Diabetics Have the Same Risk and Benefits Regarding Postoperative Amiodarone Prophylaxis for Atrial Fibrillation When Undergoing Surgery for Lung Cancer

Background: To evaluate if the risk for developing atrial fibrillation after lung surgery is higher for diabetics than non-diabetic patients and whether diabetic status prolongs the length of in-hospital stay. Objective: To compare the outcome of amiodarone prophylaxis in diabetics and non-diabetics. Design: Subgroup analysis within a randomized, controlled, double-blinded trial. Results: Development of atrial fibrillation was equally frequent among diabetics (18.2%) and non-diabetics (20.5%) (p = 1.00). Atrial fibrillation occurred in 7.1% of prophylactic diabetics and in 9.3% of prophylactic non-diabetics, while 37.5% non-prophylactic diabetics and 31.3% non-prophylactic non-diabetics experienced atrial fibrillation (p = 0.31). Prophylactic amiodarone was equally effective in diabetics as in non-diabetics with a relative risk of 3.5 (1.8 67.0) and the number need to treat of 4.4 (3.3 8.3) (p = 0.31). The length of in-hospital stay for diabetics was equal to non-diabetics with an average stay of 7.1 versus 8 days at Aarhus University Hospital (p = 0.61) with similar stays at intermediary and intensive care unit as well as total in-hospital stay of 8.9 versus 10 days (p = 0.60). Conclusions: Diabetics have the same risk of atrial fibrillation and the same benefits from prophylactic amiodarone as non-diabetics after surgery for lung cancer. Furthermore, diabetics have the same length of stay as non-diabetics. No severe adverse effects were found in either group.