Effects of hyperbaric oxygen preservation on rat limb replantation: a preliminary report

The effect of hyperbaric oxygen, administered during storage, on the survival of replanted limbs was evaluated in rats. The right hindlimbs of male Sprague-Dawley rats were severed and were replanted by microvascular anastomoses after storage in either room air or hyperbaric oxygen (100% oxygen at 2.9 atm absolute) at 23 degrees C for 5 hours. The administration of hyperbaric oxygen during storage improved limb survival from 50% in the room-air, control rats to 100% (p less than 0.05). The gastrocnemius muscle of limbs treated with hyperbaric oxygen demonstrated a higher level of energy reserves (creatine phosphate, adenosine triphosphate, glycogen, and glucose) than the same muscle in room-air, control rats. The mechanisms of the beneficial effect of hyperbaric oxygen on limb survival appears to be related to preservation of high-energy phosphates and glycogen.