ReviewCureus2023
Efficacy of Remifentanil in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.
Review in Cureus, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Management of analgesia in cardiac surgery.Pain management · 2025Review
- Article
- Remifentanil use in critically Ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation is associated with increased delirium-free days: a retrospective study.International journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Remifentanil, characterized by its ultra-short action duration and nonorgan-dependent metabolism, is applied in postcardiac surgery settings worldwide. While previous studies have compared its efficacy with that of other opioids, it has never been compared to a single specific opioid. Here, we evaluated whether remifentanil shortens mechanical ventilation (MV) times in patients after cardiac surgery. We identified randomized controlled trials that compared various opioids in adults (≥18 years) admitted to the intensive care unit after cardiac surgery. The primary outcome was the duration of MV, expressed as the mean difference (MD) in minutes, with a 95% confidence interval (CI). A 60-min reduction was considered significant based on prior research. Data were sourced from MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Platforms Search Portal, and ClinicalTrials.gov, and a frequentist network meta-analysis was conducted. The eight identified studies indicate no differences in the duration of MV between remifentanil and fentanyl (MD 0.09 min; 95%CI -36.89-37.08), morphine (MD -19 min; 95%CI -55.86-16.21), or sufentanil (MD -2.44 min; 95%CI -67.52-62.55). Our study revealed that remifentanil did not reduce MV times in patients after cardiac surgery. The study protocol was registered with the Open Science Forum (https://osf.io/) (DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/YAHW2).
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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.