RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: We investigated the effects of preoperative administration of beta-blockers on the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiothoracic surgery and the resulting morbidity and mortality. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 181 patients who underwent operations between May 2004 and December 2007. We divided the patients into 2 groups according to their preoperative use beta-blockers. Group A (n = 89) consisted of patients who did not receive beta-blockers, and group B (n = 92) consisted of patients who received 50 mg metoprolol succinate daily. All patients underwent on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) via sternotomy. RESULTS: Atrial sizes and the baseline clinical and laboratory data were similar for the 2 groups. The 2 groups were also similar with respect to the numbers of grafts per patient, preoperative ejection fractions, cross-clamp times, cardiopulmonary bypass times, and postoperative inotrope use (P > .05). AF occurred in 39 (21.5%) of the 181 patients after the operation. Postoperative AF occurred in 30 (33.7%) of the group A patients and in 9 patients (9.7%) in group B (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Postoperative AF increases the rates of morbidity and mortality and the length of hospital stay after CABG. The prophylactic use of beta-blockers decreases the rate of postoperative AF and thus AF-related complications.