Use of Clevidipine as an Alternative to Nitroglycerin in Cardiac Surgery

Cardiac surgery requires periods of therapeutic hypotension. Anesthesia providers often administer intravenous (IV) nitroglycerin to accomplish these meticulous hemodynamic goals. However, patients occasionally manifest adverse responses to nitroglycerin such as decreased stroke volume (SV), decreased cardiac output (CO), decreased renal, splanchnic, cerebral perfusion, and tolerance. In these situations, an alternative medication is needed that is just as effective and safe for the patient. Clevidipine is currently the best choice for this because it has rapid onset and termination of action, and it has arterial specific effects. Multiple studies show that clevidipine is as effective and safe as nitroglycerin.