Review of inhaled nitric oxide in the pediatric cardiac surgery setting.

Surgical intervention for congenital heart disease (CHD) can be complicated by pulmonary hypertension (PH), which increases morbidity, mortality, and medical burden. Consequently, postoperative management of PH is an important clinical consideration to improve outcomes. Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) is a widely accepted standard of care for PH and has been studied in the context of cardiac surgery for CHD. However, large randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trials in pediatric patients are limited. This review will provide an overview of the clinical studies in this setting and will discuss general treatment considerations to facilitate a better understanding of the clinical use of iNO for PH after pediatric cardiac surgery.