Safety of oral nicorandil before coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Nicorandil is a K(ATP) channel opener used to treat angina. It is cardioprotective and a vasodilator. We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to assess oral nicorandil in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Twenty-two patients received nicorandil (10 mg twice a day) and 23 patients received placebo. Haemodynamic data were recorded before induction of anaesthesia (T0), 5 and 20 min after starting mechanical ventilation (T1, T2), before aortic cannulation (T3), after 30 min of CPB (T4), 10 min after CPB (T5) and after 3, 8 and 18 h in the intensive care unit (T6, T7, T8). Serum proteins (creatine kinase metabolite and cardiac troponin I) were measured before and 8 and 18 h after surgery. Haemodynamic values did not differ between the two groups. There was no tachycardia during the study, no significant difference in hypotensive episodes, ST segment changes and no changes in cardiac enzymes. Myocardial infarction after surgery was similar in the two groups. Vasoactive therapy was similar in the two groups. Nicorandil can be continued safely up to premedication without deleterious haemodynamic consequences, but a myocardial protective effect of nicorandil in CABG surgery was not found.