Background: Corticosteroids suppress the inflammatory response to cardiopulmonary bypass in children undergoing cardiac surgery. What is less clear is the impact of corticosteroids on the postoperative course.
Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was made of prospective randomized blinded placebo-controlled trials of pediatric patients who received corticosteroids or saline placebo before surgery was performed. Ten studies met inclusion criteria for a total of 768 patients. In a prespecified subgroup analysis, studies that either were limited to The Society of Thoracic Surgeons-European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery congenital heart surgery mortality categories 1 and 2 or excluded neonates were eliminated and a secondary analysis was conducted, which consisted of seven studies and 555 patients.
Results: Corticosteroids were associated with a significant improvement in fluid balance at 24 and 36 hours after surgery, with a mean difference of -15.2 mL/kg (95% confidence interval, 25.3 to -5.1 mL/kg; P < .01) and -5.7 mL/kg (95% confidence interval, -9.8 to -1.6 mL/kg; P < .01), respectively. Corticosteroids had no impact on the incidence of infection or mortality. With the secondary analysis, corticosteroids were associated with a trend toward significance in shortening the duration of mechanical ventilation (mean difference -0.7 days; 95% confidence interval, -1.7 to 0.1; P = .08).
Conclusions: Corticosteroids were found to have a favorable impact on postoperative fluid balance and may be associated with shortening the duration of mechanical ventilation. Although corticosteroids had no impact on mortality, they may be beneficial particularly for neonates and patients undergoing highly complex surgery.
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