Preconditioning Shields Against Vascular Events in Surgery

Immediately after induction of anaesthesia, a standard, CE-approved tourniquet 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.