Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal IRCMJ 2010; 12(3):298-301 ©Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal ORIGINAL ARTICLE The Effect of Lidocaine and Magnesium Sulfate on Prevention of Ventricular Fibrillation in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery

Background: One of the most common events, after the release of aortic cross-clamp in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery is reperfusion induced ventricular fibrillation, which occurs in 74 % of 96% of patients. Regarding the controversies over the use of lidocaine or magnesium sulfate for the prevention of ventricular fibrillation following the release of aortic cross-clamp, this study was designed to compare the effec-tiveness of magnesium sulfate and lidocaine to suppress ventricular fibrillation. Methods: In a double blind, prospective, randomized, controlled trial study, 76 patients who were candidates for elective coronary artery bypass grafting surgery were divided into three groups including Group A (lidocaine, n=26), group B (magnesium sulfate, n=25), and group C (normal saline, n=26). Lidocaine (1.5 mg/Kg), magne-sium sulfate (30 mg/Kg) and normal saline were administered 5 minutes before the release of aortic cross clamp. Results: The incidence of ventricular fibrillation significantly decreased in patients receiving magnesium sulfate (12 % vs. 26.9 % and 44 % in patients who received lidocaine and normal saline, respectively) There was no sta-tistically significant difference between the groups with respect to age, ejection fraction (L / min), anesthetic time (min), cross-clamping time (min), PH, HCT (%), and serum K+ level (meq). Conclusion: The administration of lidocaine and magnesium sulfate before the release of aortic cross-clam