Nifedipine can preserve renal function in patients undergoing aortic surgery with infrarenal crossclamping

Sixteen patients diagnosed with an aneurysm of abdominal aorta or Leriche disease underwent elective aortic surgery involving crossclamping of infrarenal aorta (ICC). These patients were randomized into two equal groups and 8 patients were infused with nifedipine starting from the isolation of aorta until the end of surgery (group A) while another 8 patients were infused with low-dose dopamine (group B) over the same surgical course. Plasma endothelin (ET) was measured before the induction of anesthesia, at the beginning and at the end of the clamp period and at the end of the operation. Intraoperatively, creatinine clearance and urinary excretion of PGE2, 6-keto PGF1α and TxB2 were also determined before, during and after aortic crossclamping. Pre-operative GFR as well as preinduction cardiac index (CI) and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) of the two groups did not differ. During crossclamping plasma ET rose significantly in both groups. However, after clamp removal, plasma E...