Suitability of sedative usage in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery

INTRODUCTION The provision of optimal anesthesia care is essential to the safe conduct of cardiac surgery. Nevertheless, evidence regarding ideal choices for anesthetic induction and maintenance remain conflicting. Individualized regimens balancing the patient’s cardiac pathology and the expected hemodynamic perturbations from the anesthetics are likely optimal, underscoring the rationale for this review of contemporary anesthetic strategies in cardiac surgery.AREAS COVERED Descriptions of cardiac surgery trends and advancements that necessitate concomitant anesthesia, including the challenges with the provision of anesthesia in these patients were introduced. Induction and maintenance anesthesia considerations are discussed next, along with individual medication-specific commentary on volatile anesthetics, propofol, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, ketamine, etomidate, opioids, dexmedetomidine, and remimazolam. PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were searched without date restriction through April 2026.EXPERT OPINION An optimal blanket anesthetic strategy for patients undergoing cardiac surgery remains elusive. Thoughtful combinations of multiple agents considering the patient’s physiology, anticipated hemodynamic perturbations, and type and length of surgery are likely to continue to dominate practice. Novel agents, like remimazolam, may prove especially fruitful for patients given their unique properties, but more evidence is needed to prove impact on patient outcomes for this, and other agents in combination.