A Comparison of Two Anaesthetic Methods of Protecting Heart Tissue During Cardiac Surgery
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2008-01-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
To compare two different methods of protecting heart muscle from damage caused by a decreased
blood supply. Exposure to the anaesthetic agent sevoflurane can allow the heart muscle to
resist longer periods of low blood or oxygen supply without sustaining the amount of damage
that it would otherwise expect to. The use of thoracic epidural analgesia improves the blood
flow to the heart muscle and has also been shown to reduce the amount of damage the heart
muscle may otherwise sustain. The aim of this study is to compare these two methods.