Meta-Analysis of Sodium Bicarbonate Therapy for Prevention of Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether or not perioperative administration of sodium bicarbonate had a preventive effect on cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) as shown in randomized controlled trials.

Design: The authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis using MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and KoreaMed.

Setting: The authors searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and KoreaMed without language and date restrictions. They used both MeSH and free-text terms to identify relevant studies. Electronic searches were undertaken on July 31, 2014.

Participants: Five randomized controlled studies included in this review.

Measurements and main results: There were no differences in the development of CSA-AKI among patients in the sodium bicarbonate group compared with those in the control group (5 trials, 1,092 patients; n = 233 of 547 in sodium bicarbonate (SB) group versus 225 of 545 in control group (SC); risk ratio (RR), 0.95; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.74-1.22. Also, there were no statistical differences in in-hospital mortality (3 trials, 573 patients; n = 21 of 288 in SB versus 14 of 285 in SC; RR, 1.44; 95% CI, 0.76-2.72), need for renal replacement therapy (4 trials, 1,000 patients; n = 21 of 503 in SB versus 23 of 497 in SC; RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.50-1.60), length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) (hours) (4 trials, n = 969 patients, weighted men difference (WMD), 2.17; 95% CI, -1.15-5.49), and length of ventilation (hours) (4 trials, 969 patients; WMD, 0.34; 95% CI,-0.80-1.48).

Conclusions: Perioperative administration of sodium bicarbonate did not reduce the rate of CSA-AKI in randomized controlled trials. Therefore, use of perioperative administration of sodium bicarbonate for the prevention of CSA-AKI is questionable.