Preoperative statin therapy appears to reduce the risk of cardiac and vascular adverse events after major vascular surgery, as well as lowering the mortality risk in cases of major adverse events, according to research published in the January issue of Anesthesiology.
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Preoperative statin therapy appears to reduce the risk of cardiac and vascular adverse events after major vascular surgery, as well as lowering the mortality risk in cases of major adverse events, according to research published in the January issue of Anesthesiology.
Yannick Le Manach, M.D., of the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, and colleagues assessed the impact of statin therapy versus no statin therapy on adverse outcomes in 1,674 patients undergoing aortic reconstruction.
The researchers found statin therapy to be associated with a near three-fold and near two-fold reduction in the risk of death and myocardial infarction, respectively, for patients undergoing major vascular surgery. Chronic statin therapy was also associated with a lesser risk for postoperative stroke and renal failure, but did not appear to significantly reduce the risk of pneumonia, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, or surgical complications. Reduced mortality was observed in cases of surgical complications and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.
"Chronic statin therapy was associated with a reduction in all cardiac and vascular outcomes after major vascular surgery. Furthermore, in cases of major adverse events, such as multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and surgical complications, statins were also associated with decreased mortality," the authors write.