Transcutaneous H2 clearance--a new least-invasive method for assessing skin blood flow.

Abstract

Although there is a wide variety of methods available for measuring or, more precisely, assessing skin blood flow (for a review see Swain and Grant, 1989), the only current method available for measuring skin blood volume flow at a local level, i.e. within areas of a few mm2 and in terms of m1/100g/min, is by use of radioactively labelled freely diffusible indicators (see for example Spence et al., 1985b). Such techniques have proved to be particularly reliable in predicting the outcome of below (versus above) knee amputation in patients with critical lower limb ischaemia (McCollum et al., 1988). However, the technique is invasive (albeit minimally) in that an intracutaneous injection is necessary, it requires the application of a radioactive substance, and above all it is necessary for the patient to remain quite still during the period of recording the clearance, a task which - because of pain - is often difficult for such patients to fulfil.KeywordsSkin Blood FlowRadioactive SubstanceCapillary Blood FlowCuff OcclusionClearance TechniqueThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.