Corticosteroids can attenuate the inflammatory response to cardiopulmonary bypass, but their benefits on clinical outcomes are unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate whether corticosteroid therapy affects outcomes in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

We searched PubMed, Embase, EBSCO and Cochrane databases from 1 January 2010 to 14 March 2022 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed corticosteroid versus non- corticosteroid therapy in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were renal failure, infection, delirium, intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stay.

Four RCTs including 12,559 patients (6265 randomized to corticosteroid therapy and 6294 to non-corticosteroid therapy) were included. One-hundred and 92 of 6265 patients (3.1%) randomized to the corticosteroid group versus 221 of 6294 patients (3.5%) randomized to the non-corticosteroid group experienced death during hospitalization. Compared the control group, corticosteroid therapy did not significantly reduce in-hospital mortality, with an RR of 0.87 (0.72–1.06), p = .16. There was no difference in the incidence of infection (RR 0.78 (0.56–1.10), p = .16), delirium during hospitalization (RR 1.01 (0.90–1.14), p = .85), or the length of hospital stay (MD −0.13 (−0.32 to 0.05), p = .17). However, corticosteroid therapy significantly reduced the risk of renal failure ( RR 0.82 (0.67–0.99), p = .04), and the length of ICU stay (MD −0.41 (−0.65 to −0.17), p < .01).

Corticosteroids did not significantly reduce the rates of in-hospital mortality, infection, or delirium, but reduce the incidence of renal failure and the length of ICU stay.