Lipid Emulsion in Cardiac Valve Replacement Surgery

Myocardial protection has become an essential adjunctive measure in cardiac surgery to bail the myocardium out of ischemia/reperfusion-induced damage during the operation. Experimental studies have shown that lipid emulsion infusion just before reperfusion (i.e., intralipid postconditioning (ILPC)) could reduce myocardial infarct sizes, improve cardiac function, and reduce myocardial I/R injuries, despite the interesting experimental findings, the potential clinical usage of lipid emulsion in preventing myocardial I/R injury needs to be further investigated.