Abstract

This systematic review with meta-analysis sought to determine the protective effects of corticosteroids on clinical outcomes following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Medline, Embase, Elsevier and Sciences online database as well as Google scholar literature were used for selecting appropriate studies with randomized controlled design. The effect sizes measured were odds ratio (OR) for categorical variables and weighted mean difference with 95 confidence interval (CI) for calculating differences between mean values of duration of hospitalization in intervention and control groups. Values of P < 0.1 for Q-test or I2 > 50 indicated significant heterogeneity between the studies. The literature search of all major databases retrieved 3735 studies. After screening, a total of 45 trials were identified that reported outcomes. Pooled analysis was performed on incidence of atrial fibrillation (OR of 0.71; 95 CI: 0.59-0.86; P = 0.000), stroke (OR of 1.61; 95 CI: 0.63-4.1; P = 0.3), infection (OR of 1.03; 95 CI: 0.68-1.5; P = 0.8), re-infarction (OR of 0.88; 95 CI: 0.47-1.63; P = 0.6), length of ventilation time weighted mean difference (WMD) of 0.257; 95% CI: 0.10-0.41; P = 0.00, length of hospital stay (WMD of -0.48; 95% CI: -0.66 to -0.3; P = 0.000), amount of blood loss (WMD of -124.05; 95% CI: -147.72 to -100.38; P = 0.00), re-exploration (OR of 1.25; 95% CI: 0.66-2.35; P = 0.4) and mortality (OR of 0.87; 95% CI: 0.46-1.64; P = 0.6). Overall, steroid prophylaxis in patients undergoing CABG could significantly reduce complications such as atrial fibrillation and length of hospital stay, but slightly increased the length of ventilation time. On the other hand, no significant impact on the incidence of infection was observed compared with the placebo. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery.