Diminishing blood loss during operation for burns

The current placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial was done to determine the effect of preoperative 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) infusion on blood loss in patients undergoing burn débridement and grafting, a patient population in which extreme blood loss is a frequent occurrence. Eleven patients undergoing 22 surgical procedures completed the study protocol--mean age was 33 years (range of 12 to 70 years), mean burn size was 53 percent body surface area (BSA) (range of 17 to 92 percent) and mean area débrided and grafted was 3,935 centimeters squared (range of 848 to 8,134) or 21.1 percent (range of 4.0 to 43.5 percent) BSA. The treatment group received 0.3 microliter per kilogram DDAVP infused during 15 to 30 minutes within one hour of anesthetic induction. The control group received placebo in a similar manner. Standard hemostatic maneuvers were used in all patients. Blood loss was calculated based on Warden's formula. No significant hemodynamic consequences or changes in routine coagulation profiles were noted in either group. No significant difference was found between the control and treatment groups in the volume of blood lost per percent BSA débrided and grafted (145.9 +/- 109.7 versus 130.2 +/- 61.7, respectively) or the volume lost per unit area débrided and grafted (0.75 +/- 0.54 versus 0.74 +/- 0.41, respectively). Based on these data, we cannot conclude that preoperative DDAVP infusion reduces blood loss in patients undergoing débridement and grafting of burn wounds.