Remote ischemic preconditioning in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery: Evidence from a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) has been associated with reduced risk of myocardial injury in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery, but uncertainty about clinical outcomes remains, particularly in the light of 2 recent large randomized clinical trials (RCTs) which were neutral. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of RIPC on clinically relevant outcomes in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery. Methods We searched PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE, EBSCO, Web of Science and CINAHL databases from inception through November 30, 2015. RCTs that compared the effects of RIPC vs. control in patients undergoing cardiac and/or vascular surgery were selected. We calculated summary random-effect odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results The analysis included 5652 patients from 27 RCTs. RIPC reduced the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) (OR 0.72, 95% CI, 0.52 to 1.00; p = 0.05; number needed to treat (NNT) = 42), acute renal failure (OR 0.73, 95% CI, 0.53 to 1.00; p = 0.05; NNT = 44) as well as the composite of all cause mortality, MI, stroke or acute renal failure (OR 0.60, 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.90; p = 0.01; NNT = 25). No significant difference between RIPC and the control groups was observed for the outcome of all-cause mortality (OR 1.10, 95% CI, 0.81 to 1.51). Randomization to RIPC group was also associated with significantly shorter hospital stay (weighted mean difference − 0.15 days; 95% CI − 0.27 to − 0.03 days). Conclusions RIPC did not decrease overall mortality, but was associated with less MI and acute renal failure and shorter hospitalizations in patients undergoing cardiac or vascular surgery.