A systematic review and meta-analysis on the curative effects of cardiothoracic surgery for critical patients in the intensive care unit

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the curative effects of cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) for critical patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) using meta-analysis. Methods: Literature was searched using the following search terms: “cardiothoracic surgery”, “intensive care unit”, “critical patients”, “post-operation”, and “curative effects”. Rev Man 5.3 was used for meta-analysis. Results: A total of 15 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included, all of which had a low risk of bias, indicating medium and high quality. At 30 days after CTS, the number of patients with grade III and IV cardiac function was reduced by 76.84%, and the overall heterogeneity test results revealed that Tau2=0.09, Chi2=17.08, df=5, I2=71%, P=0.004<0.01, Z=7.62, RR =0.33, and 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.43. The incidence of adverse reactions was analyzed in 6 RCTs, and mainly manifested as improper anticoagulation thrombosis and bleeding. The overall heterogeneity test results revealed that Chi2=1.07, df=5, I2=0%, P=0.96, Z=4.93, OR =0.46, 95% CI: 0.34 to 0.63, and P<0.01. The 30-day mortality rate was analyzed in 8 RCTs. The overall analysis using the fixed effects model revealed that there was a notable difference between the experimental group and the baseline, with Z=10.11, OR =0.12, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.18, and P<0.01. Discussion: CTS can reduce the incidence of adverse events and the mortality rate of critical patients in the ICU, demonstrating high safety.