title: Con: calcium is not routinely indicated during separation from cardiopulmonary bypass.
abstract: Severe hypocalcemia is uncommon in adult cardiac surgery patients; the nearly ubiquitous mild hypocalcemia does not impair myocardial performance. Clinicians should recognize that in certain circumstances, calcium may interact negatively with catecholamines such as epinephrine or dobutamine. Lastly, evidence suggests that calcium influx during ischemia-reperfusion contributes to myocardial dysfunction after CPB. Therefore, there appears to be no justification for the practice of routinely administering large doses of calcium salts to adult cardiac surgery patients after CPB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1009, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prielipp
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Butterworth
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000494:pharmacology; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D006996:Hypocalcemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines; D002118:Calcium