Postoperative Metabolic, Inflammation, and Atrial Fibrillation Control: a Relentless Battle

Prolonged preoperative fasting may worsen this syndrome, and hyperglycemia is an independent factor for worse prognosis in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery, leading to prolonged hospital stay, higher infection rates and increased postoperative morbidity and mortality[1,2]. [...]who would have thought-, studies have shown the benefits of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in preventing atrial fibrillation in the postoperative period of cardiovascular surgery. A recent meta-analysis of 15 clinical trials for the prevention of atrial fibrillation showed that in 9 of the studies vitamin C lowered the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation (RR = 0.56 [95% CI 0.47-0.67], P