Aprotinin (Trasylol) is a drug used to reduce bleeding in patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. A recent evaluation found elevated risks of renal, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular events when aprotinin was used. This experiment determines the impact of aprotinin on safety variables among patients receiving cardiothoracic surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass from one U.S. hospital that reserves aprotinin for complex surgeries and Jehovah’s Witnesses and does not utilize celite-based activated clotting time determinations. 348 patients were evaluated from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2005 for the use of aprotinin or lack of aprotinin in cardiothoracic surgery. The main outcome measures were odds of developing myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular events, and renal dysfunction after cardiothoracic surgery between groups.
Patients receiving aprotinin were less likely to experience a cerebrovascular event and did not have elevated odds of myocardial infarction but were more likely to experience postoperative renal dysfunction.
Aprotinin was not associated with negative myocardial or cerebrovascular risks but did increase the risk of renal dysfunction. It is not known whether the renal dysfunction reflects renal damage.
Source: Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery - (Abstract) http://jtcs.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/133/6/1547
