• A Haraldsson, N Kieler-Jensen, H Wadenvik, and S E Ricksten.
• Department of Cardiothoracic Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden.
• Intensive Care Med. 2000 Feb 1;26(2):188-94.

ObjectiveTo study the effects of 6 h inhalation of aerosolized prostacyclin (PGI2) on platelet function.DesignIn a prospective, double-blind, randomized study, 28 patients scheduled for elective cardiac surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), received either 0.9% sodium chloride (n = 8), PGI2 5 microg x ml(-1) (n = 10) or PGI2 10 microg x ml(-1) (n = 10) as an aerosol for 6 h postoperatively.SettingCardiothoracic intensive care unit at a university hospital.InterventionsAll patients were studied immediately after surgery during mechanical ventilation and sedation. The PGI2 solutions or saline were administered with a jet nebulizer.Measurements And ResultsBleeding time and chest tube drainage were measured. Blood samples for platelet aggregation, thrombelastography (TEG) and analysis of coagulation parameters and the stable prostacyclin metabolite 6-keto-PGF1alpha were obtained immediately before inhalation and after 2, 4 and 6 h of inhalation. After 6 h of PGI2 inhalation, regardless of administered dose, there was a lower rate of platelet aggregation and a lower maximal increase in light transmission in response to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) than in the control group. The TEG variable reaction time (R) was prolonged after 4 and 6 h of inhalation in the PGI2 group receiving 10 microg x ml(-1). There were no differences between groups with respect to bleeding time and chest tube drainage or any of the other variables examined.ConclusionInhalation of PGI2 for 6 h in patients after cardiac surgery is associated with impaired platelet aggregation detected by in vitro techniques, with no in vivo signs of platelet dysfunction.

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