British Journal of Anaesthesia, Vol 84, Issue 4 468-475, Copyright © 2000 by Oxford University Press
V Krejci, L Hiltebrand, A Banic, D Erni, AM Wheatley and GH Sigurdsson
Hypoperfusion of splanchnic organs is an important contributor to the
development of multiple organ failure after major surgery and trauma.
During general anaesthesia and surgery we compared changes in systemic
haemodynamics and regional blood flow with changes in the distribution of
microcirculatory flow (MBF) in multiple splanchnic organs in pigs exposed
to acute haemorrhage. Seven pigs (25 kg) were bled to a mean arterial
pressure of 40 mm Hg; 180 min later the shed blood was retransfused. MBF
was measured in the intestinal mucosa (stomach, jejunum, colon), pancreas,
liver and kidney using a six-channel laser Doppler flowmeter. Cardiac
output was measured by thermodilution and superior mesenteric artery flow
by ultrasonic flowmetry. During haemorrhage, MBF in the gastric and colon
mucosa and flow in the liver and kidney decreased to a similar extent to
regional and systemic flows (30-50%). In contrast, MBF in the jejunal
mucosa remained virtually unchanged and flow in the pancreas decreased
significantly more than systemic and regional flows (60%, P < 0.05). We
conclude that: (1) changes in the distribution of MBF in the
gastrointestinal tract during acute haemorrhage are heterogeneous and
cannot be predicted from changes in systemic or regional haemodynamics; (2)
MBF in the jejunal mucosa did not decrease during haemorrhage, indicating
that autoregulation of blood flow in the mucosa remained intact during
shock; and (3) MBF in the pancreas decreased significantly more than
systemic and regional flows during shock, suggesting that the pancreas is
particularly vulnerable to haemorrhage.
ARTICLES
Continuous measurements of microcirculatory blood flow in gastrointestinal organs during acute haemorrhage
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Inselspital, University Hospital of Berne, Switzerland.
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