Remote Ischemic Preconditioning and its Effects on the Respiratory System

Abstract: Mechanical ventilation in itself can lead to pulmonary damage, and one-lung ventilation (OLV), necessary for thoracic surgery, accentuates this injury. Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIP) is a potential tool to reduce lung injury after mechanical ventilation, including OLV.  However, current data on pulmonary RIP-effects are contradictory. Therefore, the overall purpose of this Ph.D. project was to assess the effects of RIP on the respiratory system. In Study I, in healthy spontaneously breathing volunteers, oxygenation was impaired early after RIP, which was possibly induced by transient ventilation-perfusion inequality. Studies II, III, and IV were performed in a porcine OLV model. In Study II, we found that RIP possibly enhances alveolar injury, but attenuates the immune response. In Study III, we confirmed that an immune response to RIP takes place, which shows a different time pattern in each cytokine, depending on the site of measurement as well. In Study IV, we studied the porcine model for eight hours and found that RIP improved oxygenation after two hours of OLV and impeded the decline of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) during and after OLV. These findings indicate that RIP mitigates hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV).In summary, RIP has a complex effect on the respiratory system, which partly explains the previous contradictory findings.