Oxygen kinetics during liver transplantation: the relationship between delivery and consumption

In anesthetized humans, oxygen consumption is independent of oxygen delivery above a critical threshold. Below this critical level, lactic acid is a marker of anaerobic metabolism and tissue oxygen debt, and heralds a supply dependency of oxygen consumption. The goal of this study was to determine whether a threshold value for oxygen delivery below which oxygen consumption becomes supply dependent can be identified in patients with normal, impaired, or absent liver function. Measurements were made in 34 surviving patients (group 1) and in 16 nonsurvivors with sepsis and postoperative liver graft failure (group 2). Hemodynamic measurements and blood samples were taken 10 minutes after introduction of anesthesia, 10 minutes after cross-clamping, and 10 minutes after reperfusion of the new liver. At these time points, we measured blood lactate, cardiac output, and arterial and mixed venous oxygen contents in order to calculate oxygen consumption and oxygen delivery. In both groups, cardiac output, oxygen delivery, and oxygen consumption decreased during the anhepatic phase and increased after unclamping of the inferior vena cava. Lactate increased in both groups during surgery, but was significantly higher in nonsurvivors (6.6 +/- 0.4 mmol/L) than in survivors (4.6 +/- 0.1 mmol/L) (P < .05). With similar changes for oxygen delivery and oxygen consumption during increased lactate levels we could not identify a clear supply dependency of oxygen consumption in survivors and nonsurvivors during liver transplantation. We conclude that the interpretation of blood lactate levels during circulatory shock can be biased due to a reduced lactate clearance in patients with impaired liver function, unrelated to the status of the relationship between oxygen delivery and consumption.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)