Chronic H2 receptor antagonist treatment and pulmonary complications post cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effects of chronic H2 receptor antagonist treatment and pulmonary complications, length of stay in intensive care (ITU), high dependency (HDU), and stay in hospital in patients who undergo pulsatile cardiopulmonary bypass.

DESIGN

An analysis from a prospective database of patients undergoing cardiac surgery with pulsatile perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass.

SETTING

Hammersmith Hospital, regional cardiothoracic surgical centre.

SUBJECTS: 2,642 patients who had undergone cardiac surgery involving pulsatile perfusion. Of these, 255 were on H2 receptor antagonist treatment.

MAIN OUTCOME: Time to extubation, re-intubation rate, incidence of pulmonary oedema, measures incidence of lobar collapse and consolidation, incidence of antibiotic treatment for pulmonary infection, length of ITU, HDU and total hospital stay.

RESULTS

75.8% of patients on H2 receptor antagonists compared with 74.5% of control patients had no respiratory complications after cardiac surgery (P > 0.5). There was no significant difference between collapse and consolidation (P > 0.5), collapse and consolidation requiring antibiotics (P > 0.5), re-intubation (P > 0.5), pulmonary oedema (P > 0.5), time to extubation (P > 0.5), length of ITU stay (P > 0.5), length of HDU stay (P > 0.5), length of hospital stay (P > 0.5), and mortality (P > 0.5).

CONCLUSION

Chronic H2 receptor antagonist treatment has no effect on pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery.