Water Metabolism after Cardiac Operations Involving a Gibbon-Type Pump-Oxygenator

Abstract

Daily water metabolism of 21 patients was studied for 3 days after intracardiac surgery and whole-body perfusion. The average obligatory water losses of these patients were approximately 500, 750, and 750 ml. per M.² of body surface per day on the first, second, and third postoperative day, respectively. A simple system, which combines knowledge of the estimated postoperative water requirement with the known daily change in body weight, was devised to manage accurately water metabolism after intracardiac surgery.