• Carolin Torregroza, Sebastian Roth, Katharina Feige, Giovanna Lurati Buse, Markus W Hollmann, and Ragnar Huhn.
• Klinik für Anästhesiologie, Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Moorenstr. 5, 40225, Düsseldorf, Deutschland.
• Anaesthesist. 2021 May 1; 70 (5): 401-412.

BackgroundPerioperative cardioprotection aims to minimize the consequences of myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury. These strategies appear particularly relevant for anesthesia provision during on-pump cardiac surgery but they potentially affect any cause of perioperative myocardial ischemia. In recent years, several pharmacological and nonpharmacological strategies of cardioprotection have been explored. Results from studies in isolated tissue and animal experiments are promising; however, translation of myocardial conditioning strategies to the clinical setting has been disappointing: in large trials cardioprotective interventions failed to significantly improve outcome.ObjectiveThis review aims to provide an overview of the current experimental evidence regarding pharmacological and nonpharmacological cardioprotection. Moreover, it discusses reasons why translation from bench to bedside is hampered by potential confounders and suggests future approaches that might overcome these limitations.Material And MethodsNarrative review.Results And ConclusionResults of experimental studies are convincing but translation into clinical practice remains challenging. Several confounders have been identified contributing to the mainly inconclusive results from clinical studies, such as comorbidities and comedications, choice of anesthetic regimen and also methodological issues. Carefully designed clinical trials in well-defined patient cohorts evaluating combinations of protective strategies targeting different pathways and cell types might support bench to bedside translation.

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