Arterial pressure and deltoid muscle gas tensions during cardiopulmonary bypass in man.

The results of this study demonstrate that standard techniques of conducting cardiopulmonary bypass produce low muscle oxygen and high muscle carbon dioxide tensions and, thus, little perfusion of skeletal muscle. Our findings also show that PmO2 and PmCO2 do not return to pre-bypass levels until the mean arterial blood pressure exceeds 12 kPa (90 torr) during bypass and that utilization of vasopressor drugs during bypass maintains the pressure; but at the expense of muscle blood flow. The data indicate that both high mean blood pressure and high flow are necessary during bypass to ensure skeletal muscle perfusion and suggest, when combined with preliminary animal findings, that this type of bypass perfusion may prove to be superior to standard techniques in hastening recovery after cardio-pulmonary bypass.