blockers improve bypass surgery survival rates

doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7346.1118

BMJ 2002;324:1118 ( 11 May )

News roundup

b blockers improve bypass surgery survival rates

Scott Gottlieb New York

Patients who take b blockers before coronary artery bypass surgery can increase their odds of surviving, a new study says.

The study found that 2.8% of patients who took b blockers before surgery died within a month, compared with 3.4% of patients who did not take the drugs (odds ratio 0.80 (95% confidence interval 0.78 to 0.82)).

Patients on b blockers also spent less time on mechanical ventilation after surgery and were less likely to require a follow up operation or to have kidney failure. The results are based on an analysis of hospital records of nearly 630 000 patients who had bypass surgery at 497 hospitals in the United States and Canada between 1996 and 1999 (JAMA 2002;287:2221-7).

Randomised clinical trials have proved the effectiveness of b blockers in improving outcomes in heart patients in general and in patients undergoing other . . . [Full text of this article]

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