Intravenous magnesium sulfate after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: A meta-analysis of published data

Abstract

After the pilot study from Boet and Mee published in Neurosurgery in 2000, further pilot studies has been published on using magnesium sulfate infusion in patients after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. We aimed to investigate the current status of the use of magnesium sulfate after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. A total of 383 patients from three randomized controlled clinical trials with vasospasm and outcome data were grouped for analysis. Although the individual results of all three pilot studies were negative, the grouped data indicated a beneficial effect in terms of neurological outcome and clinical vasospasm. The result suggested that multi-center trials as iMASH trial should be continued to provide the evidence and indication of magnesium sulfate infusion for patients with aneurysmal SAH. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.