Experimental enhancement of drug uptake using short-term flow occlusion: a comparison of balloon and tourniquet techniques.

Three groups of dogs, four per group, were used to examine the safety of short-term arterial flow occlusion and potential benefits of balloon and/or tourniquet occlusion-infusion techniques. In part 1, local plasma gases and pH were monitored during a 1-hr period of vascular occlusion. Tourniquet occlusion was found to significantly (p = 0.01) lower pO2. In part 2, local muscle and venous blood samples were obtained during and after a 30-min intraarterial infusion of floxuridine (FUDR). A tourniquet was added to try to eliminate collateral circulation. Local FUDR concentration was increased by 1.3 times in muscle and 19.6 times (p less than 0.01) in ipsilateral femoral vein serum when a tourniquet was added to arterial balloon occlusion-infusion. In addition, the combination of the two occlusion techniques produced a 4.1-fold reduction (p less than 0.05) in systemic venous FUDR levels during infusion when compared to balloon occlusion.