Purpose: Goal-directed perfusion (GDP) refers to individualized goal-directed therapy using comprehensive monitoring and optimizing the delivery of oxygen during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). This study aims to determine whether the intraoperative GDP protocol method has better outcomes compared to conventional methods.

Methods: We searched the PubMed, Central, and Scopus databases up to October 12, 2023. We primarily examined the GDP protocol in adult cardiac surgery, using CPB with oxygen delivery index (DO2I) and cardiac index (CI) as the main parameters.

Results: In all, 1128 participants from seven studies were included in our analysis. The results showed significant differences in the duration of intensive care unit (ICU) stays (p = 0.01), with a mean difference of −0.33 (−0.59 to 0.07), and hospital length of stay (LOS) (p = 0.0002), with a mean difference of −0.84 (−1.29 to −0.39). There was also a notable reduction in postoperative complications (p <0.00001), odds ratio (OR) of 0.43 (0.32–0.60). However, there was no significant decrease in mortality rate (p = 0.54), OR of 0.77 (0.34–1.77).

Conclusion: Postoperative acute kidney injury and ICU and hospital LOS are significantly reduced when GDP protocols with indicators of flow management, oxygen delivery index, and CI are used in intraoperative cardiac surgery using CPB.