Efficacy and safety of nicorandil for prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy in patients undergoing coronary procedures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Background: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a potentially serious complication of intravenous or intra-arterial contrast administration during angiographic procedures that results in renal dysfunction. CIN can increase the risk of mortality by three-fold. This meta-analysis assesses the efficacy and safety of nicorandil for the prevention of CIN in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary angiography (CAG).

Methods: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov were used to perform a thorough literature search from their inception to July 2024. Twelve randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed on RevMan and pooled estimates were presented as forest plots. The Mantel-Haenszel method was used for dichotomous outcomes and risk ratios (RRs) were calculated along with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).

Results: This meta-analysis included 2787 participants (nicorandil: 1418, control: 1394). The use of nicorandil was protective against CIN (RR 0.38, 95% CI 0.29-0.50). There was no significant difference in major adverse events between the groups (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.52-1.13, p = 0.18). Similarly, the use of nicorandil did not affect the risk of developing stroke (RR 1.05, 95% CI: 0.38-2.95), myocardial infarction (RR 0.90, 95% CI: 0.56-1.43), heart failure (RR 0.81, 95% CI: 0.39-1.68), cardiac death (RR 0.90, 95% CI: 0.28-2.88) and dialysis (RR 0.70, 95% CI: 0.11-4.44).

Conclusion: This meta-analysis concludes that nicorandil reduces CIN incidence after PCI or CAG without significantly increasing major adverse events. However, further well-designed, large-scale RCTs are needed to strengthen the practical relevance before routine clinical use.