Effect of Selenium on Stress Response in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: A Clinical Trial

In spite of significant improvements in surgical and anesthetic techniques, acute stress response to surgery remains a main cause of mortality and morbidity in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery patients. Therefore, doing research to find safe and effective modalities with more cardio protective properties seems necessary.

In this study, we sought to determine whether intravenous injection of 600 μg Selenium (Se) prior to surgery would limit stress response measured by blood sugar.

This double blind clinical trial was conducted at a referral center of cardiac surgery affiliated to Guilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS) from June 2015 to October 2015. 73 eligible patients candidate for elective isolated CABG surgery were enrolled in the trial. They were randomly allocated to either Se group (n = 36) receiving 600 μg Se prior to surgery or control group (n = 37). Our evaluation was based on blood sugar (BS) which was measured at four point times, including before induction of anesthesia (T0), at the end of CPB (T1), 24 hours (T2) and 48 hours (T3) after surgery.

The data obtained from 73 patients in group S (n = 36) and group C (n = 37) were analyzed. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the baseline characteristics. In both groups, a sharp rise in BS levels was observed following CPB (P = 0.0001). Although the trend of BS changes was remarkable in both groups (P = 0.0001), there was no statistically significant difference between the groups at all point times including T0 (P = 0.45), T1 (P = 0.48), T2 (P = 0.92), and T3 (P = 0.42). Within the study time, our patients were monitored for any adverse effect but nothing was observed.

This investigation showed that intravenous single dose of 600 μg Se was safe in CABG patients, but had no positive effect on stress response to surgery.