The Efficacy and Safety of Nicorandil for Periprocedural Myocardial Injury in Patients Undergoing PCI: A Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nicorandil for periprocedural myocardial injury in patients undergoing PCI through meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical data of patients including the incidence of periprocedural myocardial injury (PMI) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) from selected articles. RCTs were retrieved from medical literature databases. RR and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to compare the endpoints. RESULTS: In total, 15 articles (16 trial comparisons) were retrieved which contained 2221 patients. In general, 1130 patients (50.9%) were randomized to the experimental group, whereas 1091 patients (49.1%) were randomized to the control group. The result showed that nicorandil significantly reduced the incidence of PMI and MACE after PCI compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, early use of nicorandil in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was associated with a significant reduction of PMI and MACE.