The prevention of statins against AKI and mortality following cardiac surgery: A meta-analysis

•We conduct a brand-new analysis including the latest published studies with large sample size.•The article firstly explored the characteristics of patients to clarify heterogeneity's source, making reliable results.•This meta-analysis with low sensitivity and satisfied stability enable the reliable conclusion.•The studies included were all based on cardiac surgery.•Effect of statins on AKI after cardiac surgery is now an hot issue.

ObjectiveIt is universally acknowledged that acute kidney injury (AKI) often comes following cardiac surgery with severe morbidity and mortality. The impact of statins on the incidence of AKI and mortality after cardiac surgery are controversial, therefore, it is urgent to explore the source of heterogeneity via the subgroup analysis.MethodsWe searched PubMed, ISI and Elsevier to May 31st 2016 for studies which investigated the effects of statins relevant to this theme. Statistical analysis was using RevMan5.2 and Stata12.0. The outcomes were the occurrence of AKI and the mortality after cardiac surgery. For the first time, we discussed the source of heterogeneity on the basis of the characters of patients in the following subgroup analysis.ResultsA total of 17 studies with 18,684 statins and 24,033 non-statin users were included. The meta-analysis suggested that statins not only reduced the occurrence of AKI [Odds Ratio (OR) 0.72, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.55-0.94)] in the subjects without high risk factors, also decreased the mortality of the patients suffering AKI (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.22-0.72).ConclusionPatients undergoing cardiac surgery might benefit from statins by reducing the occurrence of AKI and the mortality of the patients suffering AKI.