Adding hetastarch to the adult cardiopulmonary bypass prime does not affect patient outcomes

Hespan (hetastarch), a synthetic colloid, is often used in priming cardiopulmonary bypass circuits. The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of adding hetastarch to the prime compared to adding no hetastarch. Twenty-four adult patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass received Hespan in the prime, while twenty-nine patients did not. Outcomes were compared using paired t-test, analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and descriptive statistics, where p < 0.05 was considered significant. There were no significant differences in change in lung compliance, weight gain, time on the ventilator, or length of stay in the intensive care unit. Adding colloids to the adult CPB prime does not improve patient outcomes over priming exclusively with crystalloids.