Post Operative Atril Fibrillation : The Impact of Oral Vitamin C in Reducing the Risk in Egyptian CABG Patients

Post operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is one of the most common complications that takes place worldwide after coronary artery bypass surgeries (CABG). Many studies suggest using vitamin C as an additional treatment alongside standard therapies, such as statins and β-blockers, to reduce the risk of postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) in patients undergoing (CABG). Supplemental therapy with vitamin C may provide a more robust preventive effect against POAF compared to using statins and β-blockers due to its strong antioxidant effect. This implies that vitamin C can enhance the effectiveness of those medications used for POAF prevention by decreasing oxidative stress induced by the surgery.

There are conflicting data on whether or not vitamin C as an antioxidant has a protective effect against postoperative atrial fibrillation and has a significant role in shortening length of ICU and hospital stay . Even in those studies that show positive relationship of vitamin C in AF prevention, there is a diversity in the dosing regimen of vitamin C used among those previous studies.

To the best of our knowledge, most researches were conducted predominantly within a single geographic region, such as Iran, this raises the concerns about the potential bias and limits our ability to apply the findings to a broader global population.

Here, the investigators aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of vitamin C supplementation and to figure out which dose of vitamin C will prevent post-operative AF and decrease complications such as hospital stay, pneumonia and surgical site infection among older Egyptian adults.