ReviewJournal of clinical medicine2023
Rhythm vs. Rate Control in Patients with Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation after Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Journal of clinical medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rhythm vs. rate control for treatment of postoperative atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Improving atrial fibrillation or flutter detection and management by smartphone-based photoplethysmography rhythm monitoring following cardiac surgery: a pragmatic randomized trial.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2025Trial
- New-onset postoperative atrial fibrillation management and outcomes: the VISION Cardiac Surgery cohort.European heart journal · 2026Article
- Perioperative atrial fibrillation after non-cardiac surgery - A narrative review.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Review
- Article
- Review
- Detection and management of postoperative atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting or non-cardiac surgery: a survey by the AF-SCREEN International Collaboration.Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Relevance of Targeting Oxidative Stress, Inflammatory, and Pro-Resolution Mechanisms in the Prevention and Management of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- A Systematic Review of Ongoing Registered Research Studies on Post-Operative Atrial Fibrillation after Cardiac Surgery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- New Frontiers in Electrocardiography, Cardiac Arrhythmias, and Arrhythmogenic Disorders.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after cardiac surgery: clinical practice review.Journal of thoracic disease · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPostoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the most common complication after cardiac surgery; it is associated with morbidity and mortality. We undertook this review to compare the effects of rhythm vs. rate control in this population.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE, Embase and CENTRAL to March 2023. We included randomized trials and observational studies comparing rhythm to rate control in cardiac surgery patients with POAF. We used a random-effects model to meta-analyze data and rated the quality of evidence using GRADE.
resultsFrom 8,110 citations, we identified 8 randomized trials (990 patients). Drug regimens used for rhythm control included amiodarone in four trials, other class III anti-arrhythmics in one trial, class I anti-arrhythmics in four trials and either a class I or III anti-arrhythmic in one trial. Rhythm control compared to rate control did not result in a significant difference in length of stay (mean difference -0.8 days; 95% CI -3.0 to +1.4, I
conclusionsAlthough atrial fibrillation is common after cardiac surgery, limited low-quality data guide its management. Limited available evidence suggests no clear advantage to either rhythm or rate control. A large-scale randomized trial is needed to inform this important clinical question.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.