2022 Volume 72 Issue 4 Pages 337-341
Purpose: In gastrointestinal surgery, intestinal blood flow is an important factor that can lead to complications such as suture failure. Many recent reports have evaluated blood flow using an indocyanine green fluorescence method, but as infrared light observation camera systems are relatively expensive, this method is not widely used. In this study, we investigated the possibility of intestinal blood flow evaluation using a tissue oximeter that can non-invasively measure tissue oxygen saturation and hemoglobin index.
Methods: From esophageal and colon/rectal surgeries performed at our hospital, we collected gastrointestinal blood flow evaluation data using a finger-mounted tissue oximeter (toccare® astem).
Results: Ninety-seven measurements were performed in nine cases of esophageal cancer surgery and fourteen cases of colorectal cancer surgery. The tissue oxygen saturation threshold for gastrointestinal anastomosis was calculated to be 45.9％, and the hemoglobin index threshold was calculated to be 0.420. The detection rate for cases without complications was 87.2％, and the detection rate for cases with anastomotic complications was 84.2％.
Conclusion: Our study indicates that the evaluation of gastrointestinal blood flow using a tissue oximeter may be useful for predicting anastomotic complications.
