How Strong Is the Evidence for Sodium Bicarbonate to Prevent Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury After Coronary Angiography and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention?

Hydration with sodium bicarbonate is one of the strategies to prevent contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI). The purpose of this study was to determine how strong is the evidence for sodium bicarbonate to prevent CI-AKI after coronary angiography (CAG) and/or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We conducted PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL databases to search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the efficacy of sodium bicarbonate with sodium chloride to prevent CI-AKI after CAG and/or PCI. Relative risk (RR), standardized mean difference (SMD), or weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated. Heterogeneity, publication bias, and study quality were evaluated, sensitivity analyses, cumulative analyses, and subgroup analyses were performed. The risk of random errors was assessed by trial sequential analysis (TSA). Sixteen RCTs (3537 patients) met the eligibility criteria. Hydration with sodium bicarbonate showed significant beneficial effects in preventing CI-AKI (RR 0.67; 95% CI: 0.47–0.96, P = 0.029), decreasing the change in serum creatinine (SCr) (SMD −0.31 95% CI: −0.55 to −0.07, P = 0.011) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (SMD −0.17 95% CI: −0.30 to −0.04, P = 0.013). But no significant differences were observed in the requirement for dialysis (RR 1.11; 95% CI: 0.60–2.07, P = 0.729), mortality (RR 0.71; 95% CI: 0.41–1.21, P = 0.204) and reducing the length of hospital stay (LHS) (WMD −1.47; 95% CI: −4.14 to 1.20, P = 0.279). The result of TSA on incidence of CI-AKI showed the required information size (RIS = 6614) was not reached and cumulative z curve did not cross TSA boundary. The result of TSA on the requirement for dialysis and mortality demonstrated the required information sizes (RIS = 170,510 and 19,516, respectively) were not reached, and the cumulative z-curve did not cross any boundaries. The evidence that sodium bicarbonate reduces the incidence of CI-AKI is encouraging but more well-designed randomized controlled trails are required to allow definitive firm conclusion to be drawn.