Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) 130/0.4 provides larger and faster increases in tissue oxygen tension in comparison with prehemodilution values than HES 70/0.5 or HES 200/0.5 in volunteers undergoing acute normovolemic hemodilution.

This prospective randomized double-blinded crossover study demonstrated that hydroxyethyl starch specifications (in vitro molecular weight, degree and pattern of substitution) could significantly alter muscular tissue oxygen tension used as an indicator of blood rheology. The better results obtained with HES 130/0.4 might be attributed to the optimum “in vivo” molecular size achieved by this hydroxyethyl starch formulation.

– Philippe Van der Linden