Abstract
Introduction: Bleeding during liver surgery is often routinely controlled by the Pringle maneuver consisting in the temporary clamping of hepatic artery, portal vein, and bile duct. This study aimed at investigating a possible influence of the Pringle maneuver on tissue hypoxia during liver resection. Methods: Twenty-five consecutive patients undergoing elective liver resection were prospectively randomized either to be treated with the Pringle maneuver (Pringle group, n = 14) or without clamping (Controls, n = 11). Blood lactate levels, pyruvate levels, and hepatic vein oxygen saturation were monitored perioperatively. Results: Patients were comparable with respect to resection time, intraoperative blood loss, and duration of surgery. The Pringle maneuver induced a significant increase in arterial lactate levels during liver resection when compared to Controls (2.6 ± 0.3 vs 1.8 ± 0.2 mmol/l; p < 0.05). Further, the Pringle maneuver significantly increased hepatic venous lactate (3.3 ± 0.3 vs 1.6 ± 0.3 mmol/l; p < 0.05) and lactate/pyruvate ratio in hepatic venous blood (43 ± 8 vs 21 ± 5; p < 0.05) during surgery. This was paralleled by a temporal decrease in hepatic venous oxygen saturation in the Pringle group (61 ± 4 vs 73 ± 4%; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that liver metabolism and tissue oxygenation were markedly affected by occlusion of the liver hilus. Restricting the use of the Pringle maneuver to cases with severe bleeding might therefore be beneficial in patients undergoing liver resection.