Therapeutic use of amiodarone against postoperative fibrillation after cardiac surgery

: We investigated the effect of amiodarone (AMD) administered intravenously for the treatment of post-operative atrial fibrillation( POAF) after cardiac surgery. After rapid administration of 150 mg for 10 minutes, AMD was administered in 1.0 mg per minute for 6 hours followed by 0.5 mg per minute for 18 hours. AMD was then administered orally 200 mg per day for 1 or 2 weeks. Twenty-five cases were enrolled from January 2010 to June 2013. In 18 cases(72%), the patients were successfully defibrillated by this protocol. In the other 7 cases, the patients required electrical defibrillation, but in 1 patient developed chronic atrial fibrillation. It was thought that AMD could be a choice for POAF.