Influence of preoperative 7.5% hypertonic saline on neutrophil activation after reamed intramedullary nailing of femur shaft fractures: a prospective randomized pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: Femoral reaming and intramedullary nailing (IMN) primes polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) and thereby increases the posttraumatic systemic inflammatory response. Resuscitation with hypertonic saline (HTS) attenuates PMNL activation after trauma-hemorrhage. We hypothesized that preoperative administration of 7.5% HTS attenuates PMNL priming after IMN of unilateral femur shaft fractures compared with 0.9% normal saline.

DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind study.

SETTING: Level I trauma center.

PATIENTS: Twenty patients between 18 and 80 years of age with an Injury Severity Score less than 25 and a unilateral femur shaft fracture amenable to IMN fixation within 24 hours after injury.

INTERVENTION: Patients were allocated to equally sized HTS or normal saline treatment groups (n = 10) before surgery. Solutions were administered in a blinded bag as a single bolus of 4 mL/kg body weight immediately before surgery. Whole blood samples were collected directly before saline application (t0) and at 6, 12, and 24 hours after surgery.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: PMNL surface expression of CD11b and CD62L, as determined by flow cytometry analysis.

RESULTS: Demographic characteristics of both treatment groups were comparable. Baseline expression of CD11b and CD62L cell markers was in a similar range in the two cohorts. The expression levels of CD11b were comparable between the two groups throughout the observation time, whereas CD62L levels were significantly higher in the HTS group at 6 and 24 hours after surgery.

CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: Preoperative infusion of HTS appears to exert an anti-inflammatory effect by attenuating the extent of postoperative PMNL activation after reamed IMN for femoral shaft fractures.