title: Effects of the postoperative administration of diltiazem on renal function after coronary artery bypass grafting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Radial artery grafts are used for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and postoperative antispasm therapy with diltiazem is performed widely. Some investigators have warned that diltiazem administration after cardiac surgery is harmful to renal function. We designed a retrospective study to investigate the renal and hemodynamic effects of the postoperative administration of diltiazem in patients undergoing CABG.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were 90 consecutive CABG patients. All were treated with diltiazem during surgery (a 0.1 mg/kg bolus injection followed by continuous infusion at 2 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1)). In the 50 patients (diltiazem group) with a radial artery graft, intravenous diltiazem administration was continued until the oral intake of diltiazem (90 mg/d) was begun to avoid graft spasms. In the remaining 40 patients without a radial artery graft, diltiazem was not continued postoperatively (control group). Postoperative renal function, assessed by serum creatinine level and creatinine clearance, and hemodynamic variables (heart rate, arterial pressure, pulmonary wedge pressure, cardiac index, left ventricular stroke work index) was compared between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Renal function: Serum creatinine concentrations on postoperative days 1 through 7 were lower, and the endogenous creatinine clearance in the early postoperative period was higher in diltiazem group than in control group, although the differences were not significant. Hemodynamics: Heart rate was lower in diltiazem group than in the control group, but blood pressure, pulmonary wedge pressure, cardiac index, left ventricular stroke work index, and urinary output were similar between the groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results confirmed that intravenous diltiazem treatment in patients undergoing CABG is not harmful to renal function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manabe
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Tomoya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshizaki
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tabuchi
authors.forename: Hirokuni
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sunamori
mesh_terms: D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004110:Diltiazem / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000637:transplantation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013035:Spasm / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D004110:Diltiazem