International angiology : a journal of the International Union of Angiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
The effect of pretreatment with ischaemic preconditioning or cromakalim on perfusion in skeletal muscle during ischaemia-reperfusion injury.
Ischaemia-induced damage of skeletal muscle may lead to side effects in orthopaedic and reconstructive surgery where tourniquet ischaemia is applied to ensure a bloodless operative field. In this study we investigated the effect of ischaemia-reperfusion injury with and without preconditioning by studying the skeletal muscle microcirculation. A further aim was to establish whether ischaemic preconditioning or pretreatment with cromakalim, a potassium channel opener reduces ischaemia-reperfusion injury. ⋯ This study supports the hypothesis that cromakalim reduces postischaemic skeletal muscle damage and reperfusion injury.