Background

Cardiac surgery triggers a strong inflammatory reaction, which carries significant clinical consequences. Corticosteroids have been suggested as a potential perioperative strategy to reduce inflammation and help prevent postoperative complications. However, the safety and effectiveness of perioperative corticosteroid use in adult cardiac surgery is uncertain. This is an update of the 2011 review with 18 studies added.

Objectives

Primary objective: to estimate the effects of prophylactic corticosteroid use in adults undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass on the:
‐ co‐primary endpoints of mortality, myocardial complications, and pulmonary complications; and
‐ secondary outcomes including atrial fibrillation, infection, organ injury, known complications of steroid therapy, prolonged mechanical ventilation, prolonged postoperative stay, and cost‐effectiveness.

Secondary objective: to explore the role of characteristics of the study cohort and specific features of the intervention in determining the treatment effects via a series of prespecified subgroup analyses.

Search methods

We used standard, extensive Cochrane search methods to identify randomised studies assessing the effect of corticosteroids in adult cardiac surgery. The latest searches were performed on 14 October 2022.

Selection criteria

We included randomised controlled trials in adults (over 18 years, either with a diagnosis of coronary artery disease or cardiac valve disease, or who were candidates for cardiac surgery with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass), comparing corticosteroids with no treatments. There were no restrictions with respect to length of the follow‐up period. All selected studies qualified for pooling of results for one or more endpoints.

Data collection and analysis

We used standard Cochrane methods. Our primary outcomes were all‐cause mortality, and cardiac and pulmonary complications. Secondary outcomes were infectious complications, gastrointestinal bleeding, occurrence of new post‐surgery atrial fibrillation, re‐thoracotomy for bleeding, neurological complications, renal failure, inotropic support, postoperative bleeding, mechanical ventilation time, length of stays in the intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital, patient quality of life, and cost‐effectiveness. We used GRADE to assess the certainty of evidence for each outcome.

Main results

This updated review includes 72 randomised trials with 17,282 participants (all 72 trials with 16,962 participants were included in data synthesis). Four trials (6%) were considered at low risk of bias in all the domains. The median age of participants included in the studies was 62.9 years. Study populations consisted mainly (89%) of low‐risk, first‐time coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or valve surgery.

The use of perioperative corticosteroids may result in little to no difference in all‐cause mortality (risk with corticosteroids: 25 to 36 per 1000 versus 33 per 1000 with placebo or no treatment; risk ratio (RR) 0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75 to 1.07; 25 studies, 14,940 participants; low‐certainty evidence). Corticosteroids may increase the risk of myocardial complications (68 to 86 per 1000) compared with placebo or no treatment (66 per 1000; RR 1.16, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.31; 25 studies, 14,766 participants; low‐certainty evidence), and may reduce the risk of pulmonary complications (risk with corticosteroids: 61 to 77 per 1000 versus 78 per 1000 with placebo/no treatment; RR 0.88, 0.78 to 0.99; 18 studies, 13,549 participants; low‐certainty evidence).

Analyses of secondary endpoints showed that corticosteroids may reduce the incidence of infectious complications (risk with corticosteroids: 94 to 113 per 1000 versus 123 per 1000 with placebo/no treatment; RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.92; 28 studies, 14,771 participants; low‐certainty evidence). Corticosteroids may result in little to no difference in incidence of gastrointestinal bleeding (risk with corticosteroids: 9 to 17 per 1000 versus 10 per 1000 with placebo/no treatment; RR 1.21, 95% CI 0.87 to 1.67; 6 studies, 12,533 participants; low‐certainty evidence) and renal failure (risk with corticosteroids: 23 to 35 per 1000 versus 34 per 1000 with placebo/no treatment; RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.69 to 1.02; 13 studies, 12,799; low‐certainty evidence). Corticosteroids may reduce the length of hospital stay, but the evidence is very uncertain (‐0.5 days, 0.97 to 0.04 fewer days of length of hospital stay compared with placebo/no treatment; 25 studies, 1841 participants; very low‐certainty evidence). The results from the two largest trials included in the review possibly skew the overall findings from the meta‐analysis.

Authors’ conclusions

A systematic review of trials evaluating the organ protective effects of corticosteroids in cardiac surgery demonstrated little or no treatment effect on mortality, gastrointestinal bleeding, and renal failure. There were opposing treatment effects on cardiac and pulmonary complications, with evidence that corticosteroids may increase cardiac complications but reduce pulmonary complications; however, the level of certainty for these estimates was low. There were minor benefits from corticosteroid therapy for infectious complications, but the evidence on hospital length of stay was very uncertain. The inconsistent treatment effects across different outcomes and the limited data on high‐risk groups reduced the applicability of the findings. Further research should explore the role of these drugs in specific, vulnerable cohorts.