The effect of increased oxygen in prolonged acute limb ischaemia

Abstract

Abstract Prolonged acute hindlimb ischaemia was produced in anaesthetized ventilated dogs. During ischaemia, oxygen extraction and consumption rose initially but later consumption fell towards normal in the least severely ischaemic limbs; a progressive fall to below normal occurred in the most severely ischaemic limbs. Hyperbaric oxygen (2 ATA) did not influence blood-flow or metabolic exchange in either of these groups; in the remaining 40 per cent of the animals blood-flow fell significantly but oxygenation of the perfused areas of the limbs appeared to improve.