Ibuprofen pretreatment does not prevent hemodynamic instability after cemented arthroplasty in dogs

A bilateral cemented arthroplasty (BCA) in anesthetized mongrel dogs creates pulmonary fat and marrow embolism. A transient increase in plasma concentration of 6-keto prostaglandin F1 alpha and thromboxane B2 has been associated with hemodynamic instability after BCA. We tested whether intravenous ibuprofen (20 mg/kg) could inhibit prostaglandin production, pulmonary hypertension, and decreased arterial blood pressure in this model. We found a decrease in cardiac output from 3.0 +/- 0.5 to 2.2 +/- 1.3 L/min (mean +/- 1 SD) after BCA with a flow probe placed at thoracotomy around the ascending thoracic aorta. Systemic arterial blood pressure decreased from 140 +/- 11 to 100 +/- 15 mm Hg (P less than 0.0001), and pulmonary artery pressure increased from 17.7 +/- 3.3 to 37.1 +/- 9.4 mm Hg (P less than 0.0001). Similar hemodynamic changes were noted in 12 dogs without thoracotomy. Pretreatment with ibuprofen did not significantly attenuate the acute hemodynamic changes despite inhibiting prostaglandin generation. We conclude that decreased arterial blood pressure after BCA is associated with a decrease in cardiac output and that inhibition of prostaglandin production with ibuprofen does not prevent either pulmonary hypertension or systemic hypotension.