Noradrenaline levels rise significantly in rat arterial grafts at 6 hours postoperatively, and take 48 hours to come down

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of disappearance of noradrenaline in arterial grafts after their transplanation. Arterial grafts were harvested from AO/Ks:OC strain rats. In each rat, a graft was harvested from the femoral artery and transplanted into the common carotid artery. A contralateral unoperated femoral artery served as control. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection was used to determine the noradrenaline content in grafts and controls. Immediately after grafting, the noradrenaline content was 76% of control value, at 6 h 130% of control value, and at 48 h 4% of control value. The drop in graft noradrenaline content (from 0-48 h) was statistically significant (P = 0.005). The difference between 0-h, 12-h, and 24-h groups was statistically insignificant. Compared to control specimens, grafts contained less noradrenaline after 12 h, and it disappeared almost completely from femoral arterial grafts in rats within 48 h.

Current Practices in the Management of Postoperative Arterial Vasospasm in Microsurgery

“…After flap elevation, catecholamines are liberated from degenerating adrenergic nerves, which leads to a significant rise in catecholamine concentration at the cut ends detectable at up to 2 days postoperatively. 20 The flap enters a hyperadrenergic state for 30 hours following elevation. 21 Stripping the arterial adventitia aborts this phenomenon by surgically removing the nerves in the adventitial layer.…”