Intravenous injection of the monovalent alcohols may be a useful adjunct to open heart surgery in which deep hypothermia with circulatory arrest is used rather than cardiopulmonary bypass, a Canadian report indicates.
A group of University of Toronto investigators told the annual meeting of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society at Winnipeg that intravenous ethanol was used as an adjunct to open heart surgery in two patients at body temperatures of 78.8 F (26 C) and 76.6 F (24.8 C). Heart action was well maintained in both patients.
Prior to the clinical trial of ethanol, Wilfred G. Bigelow, MD, and his co-workers, David C. MacGregor, MD, John A. Armour, MD, and Bernard S. Goldman, MD, carried out experiments in dogs to determine the effects on deep hypothermia of ether, and the monovalent alcohols ethanol, propanol, and butanol.
Used by Japanese Surgeons
Japanese surgeons have reported using inhalant ether anesthesia as an adjunct