LANdiolol to Avoid TAchycardia in Patients at Risk for Cardiovascular Events Undergoing Major Non-cardiac Surgery

Despite advances in surgical and anaesthetic techniques, perioperative mortality remains high, even in developed countries. Major complications contributing almost half of all deaths after surgery are major bleeding (17%), myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (13%) and sepsis (12%). Myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery occurs up to 18% in patients \>45 years and is associated with a marked increase in 30-day mortality. Additional factors posing patients at risk for perioperative myocardial injury might be autonomic dysfunction, measured as exaggerated heart rate response to exercise or impaired heart rate recovery thereafter, as perioperative tachycardia is associated with perioperative myocaridal injury. The perioperative use of beta-blockers remains controversial, but the newely marketed ultra-short acting and highly cardioselective beta-blocker landiolol offers the opportunity to reduce perioperative heart rate without affecting blood pressure. The intervention (perioperative reduction of heart rate using landiolol) in this specific patient population needs to be proven as feasible prior to conducting a larger scale trial.