Surgical implications of ischemic preconditioning.

Ischemic preconditioning (IP) has emerged as a powerful experimental method of ameliorating ischemic injury in a variety of organs. This systematic review examines the surgical implications of this phenomenon. Data Source A MEDLINE search was conducted to identify laboratory and clinical studies investigating IP-induced protection in a variety of organ systems. Particular emphasis was placed on uncovering evidence for the use of IP in the surgical setting.