Effect of oral vitamin C on atrial fibrillation development after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting surgery: A prospective randomized clinical trial

摘要

Background: Some evidences have shown the role of antioxidant vitamins in preventing atrial fibrillation (AF) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. We sought to determine the effect of oral vitamin C on the incidence of postoperative AF in patients undergoing elective isolated on-pump CABG surgery.Methods: One-hundred patients who underwent isolated CABG surgery were prospectively assigned into two groups: Group 1 — 50 patients received 2 g of oral vitamin C before and 500 mg twice daily lasting for 5 days after surgery; Group 2 — 50 patients as the control group did not receive any. All patients were continuously monitored after surgery in the intensive careunit (ICU), and then Holter monitoring was implemented for 72 h.Results: The mean of patients’ age was 61.31 ± 6.42 years. Postoperative AF occurred in 16 and 4 patients in control and treatment groups, respectively (32% vs. 8%, p = 0.003). The ICU stay was 1.79 ± 0.313 and 2.10 ± 0.61 days for vitamin C and control groups, respectively (p = 0.002). The hospital stay was significantly lower in vitamin C group compared with that of the control group (5.32 ± 0.59 vs. 5.74 ± 1.30 days, respectively, p = 0.041). Baseline erythrocyte sedimentation rate (OR 1.030, 95% CI 1.003–1.058, p = 0.030) and taking vitamin C (OR 8.068, 95% CI 1.783–36.517, p = 0.007) were the independent predictors of postoperative AF.Conclusions: Oral vitamin C can be safely used to decrease the incidence of postoperative AF in patients undergoing elective isolated on-pump CABG surgery.