The effect of preoperative digitalis and atenolol combination on postoperative atrial fibrillation incidence

Abstract

The combined use of atenolol and digitalis preoperatively was considered as an efficient treatment for lowering the incidence of AF following coronary artery bypass surgery.

Prevention of Post–Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) Atrial Fibrillation: Efficacy of Prophylactic Beta‐Blockers in the Modern Era

“…There was also an obvious male predominance anywhere from 60% to 80% in the individual studies . Most of the authors,, , except the two, excluded patients with ejection fraction (EF) less than 20–40% and the mean EF of the study population ranged from 50% to 65%. Only two authors included the patients undergoing valve surgery .…”

“…Another important thing to notice is the use of pretrial BB; 60–100% of these patients were already talking preenrollment BB , . Timing of initiation for BB prophylaxis was 3–4 days before the surgery in the preoperative prophylaxis studies and within 24 hours of surgery in the postoperative group , , , . Definition of post‐CABG AF in terms of duration varied slightly among the trials.…”

Pharmacologic prophylaxis for atrial fibrillation following cardiac surgery: a systematic review

“…Finally, several studies compared atenolol with other regiments such as digitalis or propafenone. Yazicioglu et al [35], randomized 160 patients underwent CABG into 4 groups of treatment: a. digoxin and atenolol, b. digoxin, c. atenolol, d. placebo. The combination of atenolol and digitalis (5%) decreased significantly postoperative AF compared with placebo (25%, p = 0.012) but there was no significant difference compared to digoxin or atenolol alone (17.9%, 15.4% p = 0.087).…”

Effect of ColchiciNe on the InciDence of Atrial Fibrillation in Open Heart Surgery Patients: END-AF Trial

“…Different strategies have been examined to decrease its incidence including beta blockers (4,5), digoxin (6), calcium channel blockers (7)(8)(9), amiodarone (10-12), corticosteroids (13,14) and magnesium (15), with variable response. Previous studies have demonstrated that increased inflammation may precede AF and, therefore, interventions that reduce the inflammatory process may help reduce the incidence of AF.…”