Table 1.

Study design in all included RCTs.

Study	Country	Surgery	Pts. No. RIPC vs Ctrl	RIC protocol		RIC initiation to CPB	Placebo Control	Renal Endpoints	Baseline Creatinine level (mg/dl)	AKI Definition	F-up	Jadad score
				Cycles × I/R	Cuff pressure
Rahman17	UK	CABG (On)	42 vs 38	3 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	200 mmHg	74 mins	Yes	AKI, RRT, Mortality	1.10	SCr↑ >0.5 mg/dl	30 d	5
Thielmann28	German	CABG (On)	27 vs 26	3 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb
Venugopal19	UK	Combined	38 vs 40	3 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	200 mmHg	<45~60 mins	Yes	AKI, RRT, Mortality	0.95	AKIN	30 d	4
Zimmerman18	USA	Combined	59 vs 59	3 × 5 min/5 min at thigh	200 mmHg	N.A	No	AKI, RRT, Mortality	0.94	AKIN	In-hospital	5
Choi20	Korea	Valve	38 vs 38	3 × 10 min/10 min at thigh	250 mmHg	>70 mins	Yes	AKI, RRT	0.915	AKIN	In-hospital	5
Lomivorotov29	Russian	CABG (On)	40 vs 40	3 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	200 mmHg	30~50 mins	Yes	RRT	N.A	RRT	In-hospital	1
Lucchinetti30	Canada	CABG (On)	27 vs 28	4 × 5 min/5 min at thigh	300 mmHg	N.A	Yes	RRT	1.01	RRT	6 mon	5
Hong31	Korea	CABG (Off)	35 va 35	4 × 5 min/5 min at thigh	200 mmHg	18 mins	Yes	RRT, Mortality	1.10	RRT	30 d	3
Kim21	Korea	Valve	27 vs 27	3 × 10 min/10 min at thigh	250 mmHg	Pre- plus Post-CPB	Yes	AKI, RRT, Mortality	N.A	AKIN	In-hospital	5
Young32	New Zealand	Combined	48 vs 48	3 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	200 mmHg	N.A	Yes	AKI, RRT, Mortality	1.10	RIFLE	30 d	5
Gallagher22	UK	CABG	43 vs 43	3 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	50 mmHg > SBP	N.A	Yes	AKI, RRT, Mortality	1.37	AKIN	30 d	2
Candilio23	UK	Combined	57 vs 54	2 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb and thigh	200 mmHg	<45 mins	Yes	AKI, RRT	N.A	AKIN	In-hospital	5
Hong33	Korea	Combined	644 vs 636	4 × 5 min/5 min at thigh	200 mmHg	N.A	Yes	AKI	N.A	AKIN	In-hospital	5
Hu34	China	Valve	101 vs 100	4 × 5 min/5 min at thigh	600 mmHg	Post-CPB	Yes	AKI, Mortality	0.83	AKIN	In-hospital	4
Pinaud35	France	Valve	50 vs 49	3 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	200 mmHg	91 mins	Yes	AKI, RRT	N.A	AKIN	In-hospital	3
Hausenloy25	UK	Combined	749 vs 772	4 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	200 mmHg	105 min	Yes	AKI, RRT, Mortality	N.A	KDIGO	In-hospital	5
Zarbock26	German	Combined	120 vs 120	3 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	200 mmHg or 50 mmHg > SBP	N.A	Yes	AKI, RRT, Mortality	1.15	KDIGO	In-hospital	5
Meybohm24	German	Combined	692 vs 693	4 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	≥200 mmHg or 15 mmHg > SBP	N.A	Yes	RRT, Mortality	N.A	RIFLE	In-hospital	5
Cao37	China	Valve	30 vs 30	3 × 5 min/5 min at lower limb	200 mmHg	N.A	Yes	RRT	N.A	RRT	In-hospital	3
Walsh36	Canada/US/India/China	Combined	128 vs 130	3 × 5 min/5 min at thing	300 mmHg	N.A	Yes	AKI, RRT, Mortality	1.07	AKIN	6 mon	5
Kim27	Korea	Combined	80 vs 80	4 × 5 min/5 min at upper limb	200 mmHg	29.4 h	Yes	AKI, RRT, Mortality	0.9	AKIN	In-hospital	5

Note: RCT, randomized controlled trials; CABG, coronary artery bypass graft; I/R, ischemia/reperfusion; SBP, systolic blood pressure; atm, atmosphere; AKI, acute kidney injury; RRT, renal replacement treatment; SCr, serum creatinine; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; N.A, not available; AKIN, Acute Kidney Injury Network; RIFLE, Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss of renal function and End-stage renal disease; KDIGO, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes; RIPC, remote ischemic preconditioning; Ctrl, control.