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BJA Advance Access published online on September 28, 2007
British Journal of Anaesthesia, doi:10.1093/bja/aem273
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 BJA: November 2007
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© The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia 2007. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Cardioprotection by remote ischaemic preconditioning

S. R. Walsh1,*, T. Tang1, U. Sadat1, D. P. Dutka2 and M. E. Gaunt1

1 Cambridge Vascular Research Unit, Box 201, Level 7, Addenbrooke's Hospital
2 Department of Cardiology, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK

* Corresponding author. E-mail: srwalsh{at}doctors.org.uk

Perioperative myocardial infarction is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality after major non-cardiac surgery. Pharmacological agents such as beta-blockers may reduce the risk but are associated with side-effects and may be contra-indicated in some patients. Basic scientific experiments and preliminary clinical trials in humans suggest that remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC), where brief ischaemia in one tissue confers resistance to subsequent sustained ischaemic insults in another tissue, may provide a simple, cost-effective means of reducing the risk of perioperative myocardial ischaemia. The Medline and Pubmed databases were searched for articles concerning RIPC. The mechanism may be humoral, neural, or a combination of both, and involves adenosine, opioids, bradykinins, protein kinase C, and K-ATP channels, although the precise end-effector remains unclear. Small randomized trials in humans undergoing major surgery suggest that RIPC induced by brief lower limb ischaemia significantly reduces myocardial injury. It may also reduce other ischaemic complications of surgery and anaesthesia. Small studies provide some evidence that RIPC could reduce myocardial injury and other ischaemic complications of surgery. However, large-scale clinical trials to assess the effect of RIPC on mortality and morbidity are required before RIPC can be recommended for routine clinical use.

Keywords: complications, myocardial infarction; heart, ischaemia; surgery, postoperative care


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