Effect of del Nido Cardioplegia on Isolated Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A Study-level Meta-analysis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of del Nido cardioplegia versus conventional cardioplegic solutions on early outcomes of isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched through July 2024 to conduct a meta-analysis for a comparison between del Nido and other cardioplegic solutions in isolated CABG. Major end points of the study included operative mortality and morbidities. A random effects model was used to estimate the pooled effect size. For subgroup analyses, meta-analyses were conducted for outcomes derived from either randomized controlled-trials, propensity score analysis, or multivariable analysis. Twenty-four studies met our eligibility criteria, including 4 randomized controlled trials and 5 propensity score-matched studies with a total of 34,737 patients. Operative mortality was not significantly associated with cardioplegic solutions (del Nido vs other solutions; p = 0.262). The incidence of postoperative stroke, reoperation, deep wound infection, and atrial fibrillation was also comparable between the 2 groups. The incidence of postoperative myocardial infarction and renal failure was significantly lower in the del Nido group with a pooled odds ratio of 0.43 (95% confidence interval, 0.24-0.77) and 0.61 (95% confidence interval, 0.45-0.81), respectively. Subgroup analyses also demonstrated these significant differences. In patients undergoing isolated CABG, del Nido cardioplegia provides comparable mortality compared with other cardioplegic solutions. Del Nido solution was significantly protective against myocardial infarction and renal failure.