The effect of intravenous magnesium sulfate on acute postoperative bleeding in elective coronary artery bypass surgery.

Postoperative blood drainage is a great concern for health care providers when monitoring patients after cardiac surgery. In this study, the effect of intravenous magnesium sulfate infusion on postoperative bleeding in patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgeries was assessed. In a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial, 140 patients scheduled for elective CABG were randomly assigned into two groups; one group receiving intravenous magnesium sulfate and one receiving placebo. All the cases were similar regarding anesthesia and surgery. The magnesium group had less postoperative bleeding (465 ± 130 mL vs 680 ± 190 mL in the placebo group; P = .00) and less packed cell use (2.1 ± 0.6 packs vs 3.2 ± 0.8 packs in the placebo group; P < .05) as compared with placebo. The results demonstrated significantly less postoperative bleeding and packed cell use in the group receiving intravenous magnesium sulfate infusion during elective CABG surgery.