title: Intravenous magnesium prevents atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting: a meta-analysis of 7 double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the most common complication after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The preventive effect of magnesium on POAF is not well known. This meta-analysis was undertaken to assess the efficacy of intravenous magnesium on the prevention of POAF after CABG.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eligible studies were identified from electronic databases (Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Library). The primary outcome measure was the incidence of POAF. The meta-analysis was performed with the fixed-effect model or random-effect model according to heterogeneity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials met the inclusion criteria including 1,028 participants. The pooled results showed that intravenous magnesium reduced the incidence of POAF by 36% (RR 0.64; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.50-0.83; P = 0.001; with no heterogeneity between trials (heterogeneity P = 0.8, I2 = 0%)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This meta-analysis indicates that intravenous magnesium significantly reduces the incidence of POAF after CABG. This finding encourages the use of intravenous magnesium as an alternative to prevent POAF after CABG. But more high quality randomized clinical trials are still need to confirm the safety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, the First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, 22 Shuangyong Road, Nanning 530021, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wan-Jie
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Zhen-Jie
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Peng-Fei
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lynn Htet Htet
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Aung
authors.forename: Rui-Xing
authors.initials: RX
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008274:Magnesium / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D017594:Publication Bias; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D008274:Magnesium