Tissue tolerance to hyperthermic blood perfusion of dog hind limb

¹ Department of Surgery, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas

This work was designed to attempt to define the tolerance of the lower extremity of the dog to induced hyperthermia by passing blood from a carotid artery, through an extracorporeal circuit, and re-entering at the femoral artery to circulate through the distal tissues of the extremity. In 27 perfusions, early death of the animal prevented adequate evaluation of the effects of perfusion in nine instances. Tissue temperatures up to 45 C of 1-hr duration were tolerated with complete recovery of function. Angiograms demonstrated a normal peripheral vascular pattern. Tissue temperatures above 46 C resulted in marked edema during perfusion followed by necrosis several days later. Reversible damage resulted from short duration perfusions of 45–46 C. Calcification was present at the arteriotomy site in some of these animals. The tissues of the dog extremity may be heated to 45 C for short periods with subsequent recovery of normal function.