Metformin therapy and postoperative atrial fibrillation in diabetic patients after cardiac surgery

Postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) commonly occurs in cardiac surgery patients. Studies suggest inflammation and oxidative stress contribute to postoperative AF development in this patient population. Metformin exerts an anti-inflammatory effect that reduces oxidative stress and thus may play a role in preventing postoperative AF.

We conducted a matched, retrospective cohort study of diabetic patients' age ≥18 undergoing a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and/or cardiac valve surgery from January 1, 2009, to November 30, 2014. We extracted data from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Adult Cardiac Surgery Database. Primary exposure was ongoing metformin use at a dose of ≥ 500 mg in effect before cardiac surgery as captured before admission. Primary study outcome was postoperative AF incidence. Matching was used to reduce selection bias between metformin and non-metformin groups. Comparison between the groups after matching was accomplished using the McNemar test or paired t test.

Out of the 4177 patients with cardiac surgery (CABG and/or valve surgery), 1283 patients met our study criteria. These patients were grouped into metformin [n = 635 (49.5%)] and non-metformin [n = 648 (50.5%)] users. Pre-matching, postoperative AF was found in 149 (23.5%) patients in the metformin group and 172 (26.5%) in the non-metformin group (p = 0.2088). Matching resulted in a total of 114 patients in each group (metformin vs. non-metformin). We found no statistically significant difference for postoperative AF between the two groups after matching (p = 0.8964).

Prior use of metformin therapy in diabetic patients undergoing cardiac surgery was not associated with decreased rate of postoperative AF.