Intermittent warm blood cardioplegia versus crystalloid cardioplegia in coronary artery bypass grafting surgery patients: is there any difference in the early postoperative period?

Aim. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of two types of cardioplegia solutions, namely, blood and crystalloid cardioplegia in terms of clinical outcomes in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods. The retrospective study recruited 2,539 coronary artery bypass grafting patients, with 1,070 (45%) of them receiving crystalloid and 1,289 (55%) blood cardioplegia as a primary cardioplegic agent. Propensity score matching was performed to create comparable patient groups. The primary endpoint of the study was hospital mortality and different postoperative outcomes. Results. Patients receiving blood cardioplegia versus those with crystalloid cardioplegia were found out to have higher rate of acute kidney injury (15.7% vs 11.8%; OR=0.72; p=0.01) and postoperative ventilatory support (Ме=5:35 vs Me=5; p