Contrary to the positive findings of a previous pilot study, administration of a sodium bicarbonate-based infusion to induce urinary alkalinization during and after surgery does not reduce the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) and may even cause harm in patients undergoing open heart surgery.
These are the conclusions of a study by Anja Haase-Fielitz of the Otto-von-Guericke-University in Magdeburg, Germany, Rinaldo Bellomo of the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues, published in this week's PLOS Medicine, that suggest an infusion of sodium bicarbonate during open heart surgery is not a useful treatment for preventing AKI following open heart surgery.
The authors conducted a multicenter, double-blinded, randomized controlled in 350 adult patients undergoing open heart surgery with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. Patients received either 24 hours of intravenous infusion of sodium bicarbonate or sodium chloride (saline control) at the beginning of surgery.
The results showed that a significantly larger proportion of patients receiving sodium bicarbonate developed AKI after surgery, as compared to those receiving saline control. Based on these findings the study was terminated before planned recruitment was completed. A key limitation of the study is that a greater proportion of patients receiving sodium bicarbonate had chronic kidney disease prior to surgery compared to those receiving saline control. After controlling for this difference at baseline, there were no longer significant differences in AKI outcomes between the groups. However, it was observed that a significantly greater proportion of patients receiving sodium bicarbonate died in the hospital after surgery compared to patients receiving saline control.
The authors say: "Urinary alkalinization using sodium bicarbonate infusion was not found to reduce the incidence of acute kidney injury or attenuate tubular damage following open heart surgery; however, it was associated with a possible increase in mortality."
They add: "On this basis of our findings we do not recommend the prophylactic use of perioperative infusions of sodium bicarbonate to reduce the incidence or severity of acute kidney injury in this patient group."
Funding: This study was funded by grants from the German Heart Foundation (Deutsche Stiftung für Herzforschung, Frankfurt a. M., Germany), the Else Kro¨ ner- Fresenius-Stiftung (Bad Homburg, Germany), the Canadian Intensive Care Foundation (Edmonton, Canada), the Intensive Care Foundation (Melbourne, Australia), and the Austin Hospital ICU Research Fund (Melbourne, Australia). SMB is supported by a Canada Research Chair in Critical Care Nephrology and a Clinician Scientist Award from Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions (AI-HS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: MH and RB hold a patent on the use of sodium bicarbonate infusions to prevent acute kidney injury. MH, SMB, and PM received lecture fees from companies (incl. Abbott Diagnostics, Alere) involved in the development of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as renal biomarker. The authors declare no other competing interests.
Citation: Haase M, Haase-Fielitz A, Plass M, Kuppe H, Hetzer R, et al. (2013) Prophylactic Perioperative SodiumBicarbonate to Prevent Acute Kidney Injury Following Open Heart Surgery: A Multicenter Double-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. PLoS Med 10(4): e1001426. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001426
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Contact:
Rinaldo Bellomo
Medical Doctor, Head of Intensive Care Research
The Austin Hospital Melbourne
Department of Intensive Care
Studley Road, 3084 Victoria
AUSTRALIA
+61-3-9496 5992
FAX: +61-3-9496 3932
rinaldo.bellomo@austin.org.au
Anja Haase-Fielitz
Pharmacist, Researcher
Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg
Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Diabetes and Endocrinology
Leipziger Str. 44
Magdeburg, 39108
GERMANY
+49-391-6713170
FAX: +49-391-6715440
anja.haase-fielitz@med.ovgu.de
Journal
PLoS Medicine