SynthesisBMC surgery2022
Human albumin and 6% hydroxyethyl starches (130/0.4) in cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis revisited.
Synthesis in BMC surgery, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of 6% hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4World journal of cardiology · 2026Article
- Human Albumin Infusion in Critically Ill and Perioperative Patients: Narrative Rapid Review of Meta-Analyses from the Last Five Years.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Management of priming fluids in cardiopulmonary bypass for adult cardiac surgery: network meta-analysis.Annals of medicine · 2023Article
- The Best Way to Deal Is with Cold Steel…Is It?-Ways of Dealing with Age and Ageing in Cardiac Surgery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Hydroxyethyl starch for perioperative fluid management: a critical appraisal.Brazilian journal of anesthesiology (Elsevier)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was recently published in BMC Surgery that compared the use of human albumin with 6% hydroxyethyl starches 130/0.4 for cardiopulmonary bypass prime and perioperative fluid management in pediatric and adult cardiac surgery patients. The two plasma expanding solutions are described as equivalent for efficacy and safety outcomes, and, on that basis, the preferential use of hydroxyethyl starches 130/0.4 was recommended for economic reasons because of the higher unit costs of human albumin solutions.
resultsIn addition to the fact that trials were mostly small, single-center studies and the number of total participants was low, making the meta-analysis underpowered for several outcomes, selective reporting of data for ICU length of stay was identified. Re-calculation of statistics at higher precision showed that ICU length of stay of patients in the human albumin group was significantly shorter than that of patients in the 6% hydroxyethyl starches 130/0.4 group (standard mean difference - 0.181, 95% confidence interval - 0.361 to - 0.001, P = 0.049), which may offset any proposed economic advantage of using 6% hydroxyethyl starches 130/0.4. At the same time, the renal safety of 6% hydroxyethyl starches 130/0.4 in surgical patients is under regulatory review.
conclusionsUnderpowered trials and selective reporting may impair the validity of the meta-analysis. A more cautious conclusion about the interchangeability between human albumin and 6% hydroxyethyl starches 130/0.4 in cardiac surgery should have been reached.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.