Preconditioning Shields Against Vascular Events in Surgery
- Conditions
- Abdominal Aortic AneurysmCritical Lower Limb IschaemiaCarotid Atherosclerosis
- Interventions
- Procedure: Remote ischaemic preconditioning
- Registration Number
- NCT02097186
- Lead Sponsor
- Mid Western Regional Hospital, Ireland
- Brief Summary
Major vascular surgery involves operations to repair swollen blood vessels, clear debris from blocked arteries or bypass blocked blood vessels. Patients with these problems are a high-risk surgical group as they have generalized blood vessel disease. These puts them at risk of major complications around the time of surgery such as heart attacks , strokes and death. The mortality following repair of a swollen main artery in the abdomen is about 1 in 20. This contrasts poorly with the 1 per 100 risk of death following a heart bypass. Simple and cost-effective methods are needed to reduce the risks of major vascular surgery. Remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC) may be such a technique. To induce RIPC, the blood supply to muscle in the patient's arm is interrupted for about 5 minutes. It is then restored for a further five minutes. This cycle is repeated three more times. The blood supply is interrupted simply by inflating a blood pressure cuff to maximum pressure. This repeated brief interruption of the muscular blood supply sends signals to critical organs such as the brain and heart, which are rendered temporarily resistant to damage from reduced blood supply. Several small randomized clinical trials in patients undergoing different types of major vascular surgery have demonstrated a potential benefit. This large, multi-centre trial aims to determine whether RIPC can reduce complications in routine practice.
- Detailed Description
The demand for major vascular surgery is increasing \[1\]. Patients requiring procedures such as aortic aneurysm repair, carotid endarterectomy, lower limb surgical re-vascularisation and major lower limb amputation for end-stage vascular disease constitute a high-risk surgical cohort. Peri-operative complications such as myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, renal failure and death are common \[2,3\]. Multiple potential mechanisms may result in these complications. For example, myocardial injury may result from systemic hypotension leading to reduced flow across a tight coronary artery stenosis or, alternatively, it may arise due to acute occlusion when an unstable plaque ruptures. Most strategies aimed at peri-operative risk reduction target a single potential mechanism. For example, beta-blockade may prevent myocardial injury due to overwork, but cannot prevent acute coronary occlusion. There is a requirement for a simple, effective intervention that protects tissues against injury via multiple different mechanisms. Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) may be suitable.
Ischemic preconditioning is a phenomenon whereby a brief period of non-lethal ischemia in a tissue renders it resistant to the effects of a subsequent much longer ischaemic insult. It was first described in the canine heart \[4\]. Subsequent clinical trials showed that ischemic preconditioning reduced heart muscle damage following coronary artery bypass grafting \[5\] and liver dysfunction following hepatic resection \[6\]. Following cardiac surgery, it is associated with a reduction in critical care stay, arrhythmias and inotrope use \[7\]. However, ischemic preconditioning requires direct interference with the target tissues' blood supply, limiting its clinical utility. Further experimental work suggested that brief ischemia in one tissue, such as the kidneys, could confer protection on distant organs such as the heart \[8\]. A similar effect was observed after transient skeletal muscle ischemia \[9-11\]. This effect is referred to as 'preconditioning at a distance' or 'remote ischemic preconditioning' (RIPC).
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- UNKNOWN
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 400
- Age greater than 18 years
- Patient willing to give full informed consent for participation
- Patients undergoing elective carotid endarterectomy or
- Patients undergoing open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair or
- Patients undergoing endovascular abdominal aneurysm repair or
- Patients undergoing surgical lower limb revascularisation (suprainguinal or infrainguinal)
- Pregnancy
- Significant upper limb peripheral arterial disease
- Previous history of upper limb deep vein thrombosis
- Patients on glibenclamide or nicorandil (these medications may interfere with RIPC) Patients with an estimated pre-operative glomerular filtration rate < 30mls/min/1.73m2
- Patients with a known history of myocarditis, pericarditis or amyloidosis
- Patients with an estimated pre-operative glomerular filtration rate < 30mls/min/1.73m2.
- Patients with severe hepatic disease defined as an international normalised ratio >2 in the absence of systemic anticoagulation
- Patients with severe respiratory disease (for the trial, defined as patients requiring home oxygen therapy)
- Patients previously enrolled in the trial representing for a further procedure
- Patients with previous axillary surgery
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Remote ischaemic preconditioning Remote ischaemic preconditioning Remote ischaemic preconditioning will be performed in the same manner as several previous trials. Immediately after induction of anaesthesia, a standard, CE-approved blood pressure cuff will be placed around one arm of the patient. It will then be inflated to a pressure of 200mmHg for 5 minutes. For patients with a systolic blood pressure \>185mmHg, the cuff will be inflated to at least 15mmHg above the patient's systolic blood pressure. The cuff will then be deflated and the arm allowed reperfuse for 5 minutes. This will be repeated so that each patient receives a total of 4 ischaemia-reperfusion cycles. In all other respects, the procedure and peri-operative care will follow the routine practices of the surgeons and anaesthetists involved.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Serum troponin levels 3 days The trial is intended to pragmatically evaluate the potential of RIPC to improve clinical outcomes among patients undergoing major vascular surgery in routine clinical practice. For the pilot trial, a surrogate marker of efficacy will be used, namely serum troponin I levels. The primary efficacy outcome will be a comparison of the proportion of patients in each arm of the trial who develop a serum troponin level in excess of the upper limit of normal in the first three post-operative days.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Duration of post-operative hospital stay 30 day The duration of hospital stay and ITU stay have a major impact on health service resource utilisation, and are factors which can be influenced by surgery.
Duration of intensive care unit stay 30 day The duration of hospital stay and ITU stay have a major impact on health service resource utilisation, and are factors which can be influenced by surgery.
Acute kidney injury score in first three peri-operative days 3 days The Acute Kidney Injury Score will be calculated over the first three peri-operative days. Creatinine will be measured daily as part of routine care. Urine volumes will be calculated from the fluid balance charts maintained as part of usual care.
Serial troponin I results 3 days A comparison of the area under the curve of serial troponin I
Mortality 1 year Death within one year of surgery will be determined by contacting the patient's general practitioner.
Acute upper limb ischaemia 24 hours post-operatively Acute upper limb ischaemia - This is defined as the development of ischaemia in the arm used for the preconditioning stimulus requiring systemic anti-coagulation, radiological intervention or surgical intervention. The arm will be assessed at the end of surgery to identify if ischaemia is present.
Acute upper limb deep vein thrombosis 10 days Acute upper limb deep vein thrombosis - This is defined as the development of thrombus within the subclavian, axillary or brachial vein, which may develop up to 10 days post procedure, confirmed in duplex ultrasound and in the same arm as used for the RIPC stimulus.
Composite Major Adverse Clinical Events 30 day The primary endpoint for the trial will be Major Adverse Clinical Events. This is a composite endpoint comprising any of: cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, new onset arrhythmia requiring treatment, cardiac arrest, congestive cardiac failure, cerebrovascular accident, renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy, mesenteric ischaemia requiring intervention or biopsy proven ischaemic colitis, urgent cardiac revascularisation. All participants will undergo a serum troponin levels and 12-lead electrocardiogram on the second post-operative day to screen for silent peri-operative myocardial infarction. Trial ECGs and troponin levels will be interpreted by a blinded trial cardiologist.
Unplanned critical care unit admission 30 day The duration of hospital stay and ITU stay have a major impact on health service resource utilisation, and are factors which can be influenced by surgery.
Post-operative complications 30 day Postoperative complications will be recorded and results from both groups compared.
Cardiac or cerebral event 1 year Major adverse cardiac or cerebral event (myocardial infarction, cardiac death, cerebrovascular accident) within 1 year of surgery will be determined by contacting the patient's general practitioner for details.
Trial Locations
- Locations (6)
Cork University Hospital
🇮🇪Cork, Ireland
University Hospital Limerick (AKA MidWestern Regional Hospital)
🇮🇪Limerick, Ireland
University Hospital Galway
🇮🇪Galway, Ireland
Waterford Regional Hospital
🇮🇪Waterford, Ireland
St James's Hospital
🇮🇪Dublin, Ireland
Beaumont Hospital
🇮🇪Dublin, Ireland