Efficacy of N-acetylcysteine in preventing renal injury after heart surgery: a systematic review of randomized trials.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess whether perioperative N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant, prevents acute renal injury (ARI) after cardiac surgery.

Methods And Results: We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of NAC in adult cardiac surgery patients. The RCTs were identified by searching MEDLINE (1960-2008), clinicaltrials.