Levosimendan administration is not associated with increased risk of bleeding and blood transfusion requirement in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting: a retrospective study from single center

Background: Levosimendan (LEVO) is a positive inotropic drug which could increase myocardial contractility and reduce the mortality rate in cardiac surgical patients. However, Whether LEVO is associated with postoperative bleeding and blood transfusion in cardiac surgical patients is controversial. Therefore, the current study was designed to investigate the impact of LEVO administration on bleeding and blood transfusion requirement in off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) patients. Methods: In a retrospective analysis, a total of 292 patients, aged 40–87 years, undergoing elective OPCAB between January 2019 and July 2019, were divided into LEVO group ( n = 151) and Control group ( n = 141). Patients in LEVO group continuously received LEVO at a rate of 0.1–0.2 μg kg−1 min−1 after anesthesia induction until 24 hours after OPCAB or patients in Control group received no LEVO. The primary outcome was postoperative chest drainage volume. The secondary outcomes were reoperation for postoperative bleeding, transfusion requirement of red blood cells (RBCs), fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and platelet concentrate (PC), etc. Comparisons of two groups were performed with the Student’s t-test or Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test. Results: There was no significant difference with respect to chest drainage volume ((956.29 ± 555.45) ml vs (1003.19 ± 572.25) ml, p = 0.478) and the incidence of reoperation for postoperative bleeding (1.32% vs 1.42%, p = 0.945) between LEVO group and Control group. The transfusion incidence and volume of allogeneic RBCs, FFP, and PC were comparable between two groups. Conclusions: LEVO administration was neither associated with more postoperative blood loss nor increased allogeneic blood transfusion requirement in OPCAB patients.