[Application of the hydrogen washout technique to orthopedic research (author's transl)]

Since the first description by Aukland and co-authors in 1964, the hydrogen washout has been shown to be an accurate method in determining regional tissue blood flow. The presence of hydrogen molecules within the tissue is detected with a platinum electrode where a small amount of current is generated by oxidation of molecular hydrogen to hydrogen ions. Therefore, construction of the suitable electrode for the tissue to be measured is essential. The author applied the hydrogen washout technique to the blood flow measurement of bone, muscle, skin, digit and peripheral nerve, and found that the technique was valuable in basic and clinical studies in orthopedics. As a typical experimental study using the hydrogen washout technique, the study on the effect of adrenaline on bone blood flow was presented and the experimental method was explained in detail. Although the hydrogen washout technique has been developed to measure the blood flow, the technique has been found useful in detecting the pathways of microcirculation between different tissues. As an example, the study on nutritional pathways of the intervertebral disk was described. Since the hydrogen gas is harmless, it is possible to apply the technique to the clinical studies including the blood flow measurement of replanted digits, diagnosis of the compartment syndrome and the blood flow measurement of skin flaps. Furthermore, several problems in the hydrogen washout technique were discussed.