Continuation of RAAS blockers ‘safest for cardiac surgery’
Study in US veterans shows the highest risk of death is for patients who permanently cease their meds
Patients taking renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers are less likely to die after undergoing cardiac surgery if they stay on the medication, a large study in US veterans suggests.
Use of the medications in the preoperative and early postoperative periods has been controversial because of concern about adverse outcomes such as hypotension, stroke or kidney injury, the authors say.
They examined outcomes for more than 37,000 US veterans undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or a valve replacement or repair between 2005 and 2014.
In the retrospective analysis, patients fell into four groups:
