Remote Ischemic Preconditioning In Abdominal Organ Transplantation

Does remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) induced by a brief period of occlusion of blood flow to the lower extremity prior to organ recovery in deceased donors, improve short and long term outcomes after transplantation of kidneys, livers and pancreas? To test this hypothesis deceased organ donors will be randomized to receive either RIPC or No RIPC before organ recovery. RIPC will be induced in the operating room after commencement of procurement surgery. RIPC will be induced by tourniquet-induced occlusion of blood flow to the lower extremity for 10 minutes in each side, for a total duration of 20 minutes. The remainder of the organ recovery and organ preservation will be as per standard of practice. Recovered livers, kidneys and pancreas will be transplanted into allocated recipients. Transplantation and patient management after transplantation will be as per standard of practice. Organ-specific function and cell injury parameters will be utilized to assess the early postoperative outcomes of individual organs and recipients. Long term outcomes will be assessed by graft and recipient survival.