Prophylactic steroids for pediatric open heart surgery.

Background: The immune response to cardiopulmonary bypass in infants and children can lead to a series of postoperative morbidities and mortality i.e. hemodynamic instability, increased infection and tachyarrhythmias. Administration of prophylactic doses of corticosteroids is sometimes used to try and ameliorate this pro-inflammatory response. However, the clinical benefits and harms of this type of intervention in the pediatric patient remains unclear.

Objectives: To systematically review the beneficial and harmful effects of the prophylactic administration of corticosteroids, compared with placebo, in pediatric open heart surgery.

Search Strategy: The trials registry of the Cochrane Heart Group, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2006), MEDLINE (1966 to January 2007), EMBASE (1980 to January 2007) were searched. An additional handsearch of the EMRO database for Arabic literature was performed. Grey literature was searched and experts in the field were contacted for any unpublished material. No language restrictions were applied.

Selection Criteria: All randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials of open heart surgery in the pediatric population that received corticosteroids pre-, peri- or post-operatively, with reported clinical outcomes in terms of morbidity and mortality.

Data Collection And Analysis: Eligible studies were abstracted and evaluated by two independent reviewers. All meta-analyses were completed using RevMan4.2.8. Weighted mean difference (WMD) was the primary summary statistic with data pooled using a random-effects model.

Main Results: All cause mortality could not be assessed as the data reports were incomplete. There was weak evidence in favor of prophylactic corticosteroid administration for reducing intensive care unit stay, peak core temperature and duration of ventilation [WMD (95% CI) -0.50 hours (-1.41 to 0.41); -0.20 degrees C (-1.16 to 0.77) and -0.63 hours (-4.02 to 2.75), respectively].

Authors' Conclusions: The use of prophylactic steroids in pediatric patients to reduce postoperative complications commonly experienced following cardiopulmonary bypass surgery is not supported by the existing evidence. Further well designed and adequately powered randomized controlled trials are needed to more accurately estimate the benefit and harm of this intervention.