Remote ischemic preconditioning in myocardial revascularization of diabetic patients. Is it really beneficial?

Abstract

Introduction: A series of short periods of ischemia at a distance, prior to the greater ischemic event, may limit myocardial damage caused by severe ischemia and that occurs after reperfusion.
Objective: To show the effectiveness of ischemic preconditioning at a distance in diabetic patients who were performed coronary revascularization.
Methods: An experimental prospective longitudinal study was carried out in two groups of 103 patients, who were performed revascularization with coronary artery bypass graft. In the test group included in this study, the patient was placed a tourniquet insufflated three times for five minutes in the non-dominant arm, at a pressure of 200 mmHg, prior, during and after the greater ischemic event, which corresponded to the coronary artery clamping.
Results: A significant decrease was not achieved in serum creatinine, glucose, glutamic pyruvic transaminase, creatine kinase-MB or in inotropic and vasoactive drugs consumption. Neither did it so in the incidence of lethal ventricular arrhythmias, low cardiac fatal output and postoperative death.
Conclusions: Remote ischemic preconditioning can be an important tool for protection of antiischemic myocardial revascularization, but according to this research it may not be useful in diabetic patients.