title: Use of isovolemic hemodilution in the management of arterial ischemia in patients with polycythemia.
abstract: The management of patients with both polycythemia and limb-threatening ischemia presents many difficulties because in this population, vascular surgical procedures carry a particularly high incidence of hemorrhagic and thromboembolic complications. We evaluated the use of acute isovolemic hemodilution in 12 polycythemic patients who required urgent surgery due to severe ischemia and threatened limb loss. Within 48 hours, blood was withdrawn in units of 500 ml and simultaneously replaced with 1,500 ml of lactated Ringer's solution until a hematocrit of 35 to 40 percent was achieved. After hemodilution, two patients had such a marked improvement that no further therapeutic measures were required immediately. Four patients showed definite improvement in pulmonary vascular resistance tracings and segmental Doppler pressures, but ischemia was not fully ameliorated. These patients together with the remaining six patients underwent vascular surgery within 1 to 14 days after hemodilution. A hematocrit of 32 to 40 percent was maintained during the perioperative period. All arterial reconstructions were successfully completed and there were no perioperative failures. No pulmonary emboli, myocardial infarctions, or deaths occurred in this period. These results indicate that in polycythemic patients, urgent vascular surgery can be performed more safely with the concomitant use of acute isovolemic hemodilution.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006400:Hematocrit; D006438:Hemodilution / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007511:Ischemia / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011086:Polycythemia / Q000150:complications*; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods