SynthesisHeart Asia2019
Anaesthesia use in catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.
Synthesis in Heart Asia, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sedation vs. general anaesthesia in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing catheter ablation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2025Pooled it
- Remimazolam to prevent hemodynamic instability during catheter ablation under general anesthesia: a randomized controlled trial.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2024Trial
- Impact of Ablation Energy Sources on Perceived Quality of Life and Symptom in Atrial Fibrillation Patients: A Comparative Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Comparative analysis of anaesthesia modalities in pulmonary vein isolation: insights from a prospective multicentre registry.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2025Article
- Risk of Acute Pain in Obese Patients Undergoing Atrial Fibrillation Ablation.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Conscious sedation with the combination of midazolam and fentanyl is effective and safe for cryoablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.Postepy w kardiologii interwencyjnej = Advances in interventional cardiology · 2024Article
- General Anesthesia Improves Efficiency of High-Power Short-Duration Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: Comparison with Mild Conscious Sedation.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Article
- Clinical and economic outcomes of a systematic same-day discharge programme after pulmonary vein isolation: comparison between cryoballoon vs. radiofrequency ablation.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2023Article
- Deep sedation with propofol in patients undergoing left atrial ablation procedures-Is it safe?Heart rhythm O2 · 2022Article
- Risk factors for late reconnections after circumferential pulmonary vein isolation guided by lesion size index - Data from repeat invasive electrophysiology procedure.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Article
- The importance of anaesthesia in atrial fibrillation ablation: Comparing conscious sedation with general anaesthesia.Indian pacing and electrophysiology journalArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis meta-analysis and systematic review seeks to compare both characteristic parameters and procedural outcomes of atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation in patients under general anaesthesia (GA)/deep sedation and mild/moderate sedation.
backgroundCatheter ablation has become a widely applied intervention for treating symptomatic AF and arrhythmias that are refractory to medical therapy. It can be conducted through from mild sedation to GA.
methodsPubMed and Embase were searched up to July 2018 for randomised controlled trials, cohort and observational studies that assessed the outcomes of catheter ablation under GA/deep sedation or mild/moderate sedation. Nine studies were included in this meta-analysis after screening with the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Heterogeneity between studies and publication bias was evaluated by I
resultsOur meta-analysis found catheter AF ablation with GA/deep sedation to be associated with reduced risk of recurrence (RR: 0.79, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.13, p=0.20) and complications (RR: 0.95, 95% CI 0.64 to 1.42, p=0.82), though statistically insignificant. In terms of procedural parameters, there was no significant difference between the two groups for both procedural time (SMD: -0.13, 95% CI -0.90 to 0.63, p=0.74) and fluoroscopy time (SMD: -0.41, 95% CI -1.40 to 0.58, p=0.41). Univariate meta-regression did not reveal any covariates as a moderating factor for complication and recurrence risk.
conclusionApart from an increased likelihood of procedural success, ablation by GA/deep sedation was found to be non-significantly different from the mild/moderate sedation approach in both procedural parameters and outcome measures.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.