Management of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery

Abstract

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol addressing the question 'for post-cardiac surgery atrial fibrillation (AF), do clinical outcomes differ between rate or rhythm control strategies?' Altogether, 2174 papers were found using the reported searches, of which 5 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. Hospital length of stay ranged from 5.0 to 13.2 days for rate control and 5.2 to 10.3 days for rhythm control. Freedom from AF at follow up was achieved in 84.2-91 and 84.2-96% in rate and rhythm control groups respectively. Minimal serious adverse events were noted in all studies analysed and there was no difference between rate and rhythm control groups. We conclude that in the management of post-cardiac surgery, AF, rate control and rhythm control are equivalent in terms of hospital length of stay, freedom from arrhythmia at follow up and complication rates.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation; cardiac surgery; post-operative atrial fibrillation; post-operative complication; rate control; rhythm control.