Limb remote ischemic preconditioning for intestinal and pulmonary protection during elective open infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) may confer the cytoprotection in critical organs. The authors hypothesized that limb RIPC would reduce intestinal and pulmonary injury in patients undergoing open infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.
Methods: In this single-center, prospective, double-blinded, randomized, parallel-controlled trial, 62 patients undergoing elective open infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm repair were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio by computerized block randomization to receive limb RIPC or conventional abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (control). Three cycles of 5-min ischemia/5-min reperfusion induced by a blood pressure cuff placed on the left upper arm served as RIPC stimulus. The primary endpoint was arterial-alveolar oxygen tension ratio. The secondary endpoints mainly included the intestinal injury markers (serum intestinal fatty acid-binding protein, endotoxin levels, and diamine oxidase activity), the markers of oxidative stress and systemic inflammatory response, and the scores of the severity of intestinal and pulmonary injury.
Results: In limb RIPC group, a/A ratio was significantly higher than that in control group at 8, 12, and 24 h after cross-clamp release (66 ± 4 vs. 45 ± 4, P = 0.003; 60 ± 6 vs. 37 ± 4, P = 0.002; and 60 ± 5 vs. 47 ± 6, P = 0.039, respectively). All biomarkers reflecting intestinal injury increased over time, and there was significant differences between limb RIPC and control group (P < 0.001). The severity of intestinal and pulmonary injury was decreased by limb RIPC (P = 0.014 and P = 0.001, respectively).
Conclusions: Limb RIPC attenuates intestinal and pulmonary injury in patients undergoing elective open infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm repair without any potential risk.