Microvascular Reactivity in Cardiac Surgery

The VOT was performed five times in each patient, before the induction of general anesthesia (baseline, T0), 30 min after the induction of general anesthesia (T1), 30 min after applying CPB (T2), 10 min after injection of protamine (T3), and after sternal closure (T4). Before induction of anesthesia, an NIRS sensor was placed on the thenar eminence and an automated tourniquet was placed around the upper arm. The arterial catheter was placed in the contralateral radial artery and the baseline blood pressure was measured. When the baseline tissue oxygen saturation (StO2) was stabilized, the automatic tourniquet was inflated to 50 mmHg over the patient's baseline systolic blood pressure and maintained for 5 min. After the 5-min ischemic period, the tourniquet rapidly deflated to 0 mmHg. StO2 data were continuously recorded during the VOT procedure.