International journal of cardiology
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The post-pericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) is not uncommon following cardiac surgery and may be a cause of severe complications (cardiac tamponade, large pleural effusion), hospital stay prolongation, and readmissions. The estimated incidence of the syndrome has a relatively wide range affecting from 10 to 40% of patients, depending on the adopted diagnostic criteria, institution, and type of cardiac surgery. On this basis, there is a need for standardized criteria for epidemiological and clinical purposes. ⋯ In any case, pharmacologic preventive strategies are worthy of further investigation. At present, data from 2 RCTs enrolling a total of 471 patients, have shown that colchicine was associated with a reduced risk of PPS (OR=0.38 95% CI 0.22 to 0.65). Available evidence suggests that colchicine 0.5-1.0mg/day is effective for reducing recurrences of pericarditis and at the same doses is efficacious to prevent the PPS.