BACKGROUND: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a potential complication of angiography and coronary interventions that use radiological contrast, especially in high-risk patients. Acetylcysteine may have a protective effect on the development of this pathology. OBJECTIVES: Narrative review which has the following objectives: to define the development context of CIN and the risk factors; to define the mechanism of action proposed for CIN prevention and the compilation of the main and current randomized trials and systematic reviews and meta-analyses conducted to sustain this idea. METHODS: Bibliographic research of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL to screen the most relevant randomized trials and systematic reviews and meta-analyses. RESULTS: The randomized trial results are conflictive and the results of all systematic reviews and meta-analyses are controversial, despite most studies suggesting beneficial use of acetylcysteine for CIN prevention. CONCLUSION: It will be necessary to conduct better designed randomized clinical trials with adequate sample size population to obtain more consistent results.
Kidney diseases; Acetylcysteine; Contrast media; Angiography; Clinical trials
