Organ Protection

Orthopaedic surgery patients often suffer from cardiovascular risk factors, therefore organ protective effects of different anaesthetics are an important research field with many clinical implications foremost for these high-risk patients. Our principal research interests are:

• Endothelial protection of different anaesthetics on the human model
• Ischaemia-reperfusion endothelial injury and its prevention with different anaesthesia techniques

Study protocols used to assess the effect of test ischemia (15 min) on endothelium-dependent forearm vessel function on healthy volunteers. After equilibration, upper arm cuff was inflated for 15 min followed by reperfusion. Hyperemic blood flow response was measured using venous occlusion plethysmography after 15 and 30 min of reperfusion. Blood samples were collected after 2, 5, and 10 min of reperfusion. Dilator function to administration of 0.4 mg sublingual nitroglycerin (NTG) was used to assess endothelium-independent dilation at the end of each protocol. CTL = control protocol; SEVO = sevoflurane protocol. From: Lucchinetti E, Aguirre J, et al. : Anesthesiology 2007; 106:262-268

Ongoing Projects

• The effects of ischemia-reperfusion injury on vascular endothelium after surgical tourniquet for major joint surgery
• The effects of different anaesthetics on ischemia-reperfusion injury after surgical tourniquet