Myocardial Preconditioning With Volatile Anesthetics: Goodbye to All That?

IN THE CURRENT issue, Oh et al. presented a large retrospective database review comparing total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) with volatile maintenance on adverse outcomes after primary coronary bypass graft (CABG) surgery.1 The authors found a 3% absolute risk reduction in mortality that persisted up to 3 years after surgery favoring TIVA, the first time such a result has been reported. The current study suggested the exact opposite to all that have gone before —that not only are volatile anesthetics providing no protection against adverse outcomes after CABG, but that they are associated with an increase in mortality in the long-term.

Source: Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia - September 9, 2020 Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Daniel Sellers, Ludwik Fedorko, George Djaiani Tags: Editorial Source Type: research