TNF and abdominal aortic aneurysm: In a very recent randomized clinical trial of 62 patients by Li et al., three cycles of 5-min upper left-arm ischemia followed by 5-min reperfusion after anesthesia induction were found to diminish both pulmonary injury (assessed by alveolar:arterial oxygen tension ratio), intestinal injury (assessed by serum intestinal fatty acid–binding protein, endotoxin levels, and diamine oxidase activity), and systemic inflammatory response in the first 24 h (assessed by IL-6 and TNF-a) after elective open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (Li et al. 2013).