Prevention of Myocardial Injury in Non-cardiac Surgery

Worldwide, more than 200 million patients have major non-cardiac surgery annually and a significant proportion of these patients suffer major cardiovascular complications (e.g. nonfatal myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, vascular death) within 30 days of their surgery. Perioperative myocardial infarction is the most common cardiovascular complication and recent clinical studies have shown that even minor myocardial injury in relation to non-cardiac surgery is associated with 30-day mortality. Remote ischemic preconditioning is a procedure, which protects remote tissues and organs e.g. against ischemia-reperfusion injury. Cycles of forearm or leg ischemia and reperfusion by the inflation of a blood-pressure cuff for brief periods are the preferred method.The aim of this interventional clinical study is to determine whether remote ischemic preconditioning can reduce markers of myocardial injury in emergent or urgent non-cardiac surgery.