Key result
Dexmedetomidine reduced the incidence of atrial fibrillation after adult cardiac surgery by 17% (RR 0.83; 95% CI 0.73-0.93; P=0.002), with a more pronounced effect at doses >0.7 µg·kg-1·h-1.
Why the study?
Tachyarrhythmias after cardiac surgery are common and can be life-threatening.
Does dexmedetomidine reduce the incidence of tachyarrhythmias in adults after cardiac surgery?
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (n=3,171)
Does dexmedetomidine reduce the incidence of tachyarrhythmias in adults after cardiac surgery?
Relative Risk: 0.83 (95% CI 0.73–0.93)
p-value: p=0.002
Dexmedetomidine significantly reduces the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation, supraventricular tachycardia, and ventricular tachycardia in adults undergoing cardiac surgery.
Supports dexmedetomidine to reduce postoperative AF after cardiac surgery; reinforces meta-analytic evidence with dose-response data.
Tachyarrhythmias after cardiac surgery is a common occurrence in clinical practice, which can be life threatening. We searched 6 databases, including Embase, PubMed, Cochrane, CNKI, Wanfang, and Sinomed, to evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine on tachyarrhythmias after adult cardiac surgery. The primary end point was the number of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiac surgery. The secondary end points included the number of patients with supraventricular tachycardia or with ventricular tachycardia or with ventricular fibrillation or with myocardial infarction or deceased patients, the duration of mechanical ventilation, the intensive care unit stay, hospital stay, and the number of patients with bradycardia and those with hypotension. Among the 1388 retrieved studies, 18 studies (n = 3171 participants) met our inclusion criteria. Dexmedetomidine reduced the incidence of AF by 17% [relative risk (RR) = 0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.73-0.93; P = 0.002]. Through subgroup analysis, we found that when the maintenance dose of dexmedetomidine was >0.7 µg·kg-1·h-1, the effect of preventing AF was obvious (RR = 0.58; 95%CI 0.43-0.78; P = 0.0003). Dexmedetomidine also reduced the incidence of supraventricular tachycardia by approximately 70% (RR = 0.29; 95% CI, 0.11-0.77; P = 0.01) and the incidence of ventricular tachycardia by approximately 80% (RR = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.08-0.63; P = 0.004) but had no effect on ventricular fibrillation (RR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.14-7.31; P = 0.99). The major side effect of dexmedetomidine was bradycardia. Dexmedetomidine can reduce the incidence of AF (especially high dosages), supraventricular tachycardia, and ventricular tachycardia after cardiac surgery in adults, but it does not affect the occurrence of ventricular fibrillation.
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Wang et al. (2022) conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis in Tachyarrhythmias after cardiac surgery (n=3,171). Dexmedetomidine was evaluated on Number of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiac surgery (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.73-0.93, p=0.002). Dexmedetomidine reduced the incidence of atrial fibrillation after adult cardiac surgery by 17% (RR 0.83; 95% CI 0.73-0.93; P=0.002), with a more pronounced effect at doses >0.7 µg·kg-1·h-1.
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