Pentoxifylline improves tissue oxygenation following anesthesia and operation

Abstract

Pentoxifylline has been shown to increase red blood cell malleability, thus increasing capillary blood flow in a number of disease states. The present study was undertaken to determine whether pentoxifylline might improve tissue oxygenation after anesthesia and during an operation in rats. Rats were anesthetized and divided randomly into pentoxifylline (injected with pentoxifylline) and control (injected with normal saline) groups. Thirty minutes later, midline laparotomy was performed, and surface oxygen tensions and surface temperatures were measured on stomach, liver, cecum, urinary bladder, and anterior abdominal wall. Simultaneously, the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and core temperature were measured. Pao₂ was then measured. In the pentoxifylline-treated rats, tissue oxygen tensions were significantly higher than in saline-treated rats. Statistically, there was no significant difference in MAP during these measurements, no difference in either core or organ surface temperatures, and no significant difference in Pao₂.