AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 266, Issue 5 1596-R1598, Copyright © 1994 by American Physiological Society
Increased lymphatic pressure without increased neck vein pressure during intravenous infusions
J. C. Gabel, S. Dhother and R. E. Drake
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston 77030.
Postnodal intestinal lymphatic pressure increases during rapid intravenous
infusions with Ringer solution in sheep. Part of the lymphatic pressure
increase is due to increased venous pressure at the lymphatic outflow (the
neck veins). We tested the hypothesis that other factors besides increased
neck vein pressure may cause increased lymphatic pressure during
intravenous infusions. We placed cannulas into postnodal lymphatic vessels
in eight sheep. After the sheep recovered from the surgery, we infused
Ringer solution [46 +/- 21 (SD) ml/kg body wt in 30 min] intravenously into
the sheep and inflated a balloon in the inferior vena cava. We adjusted the
balloon inflation to prevent any increase in neck vein pressure during the
infusions. At baseline, the intestinal lymphatic pressure was 15.5 +/- 2.5
cmH2O. During the infusions, lymphatic pressure increased significantly,
and for the last 10 min of the infusion period, intestinal lymphatic
pressure was 24.0 +/- 6.1 cmH2O. These results are consistent with the
hypothesis that factors in addition to increased neck vein pressure may
cause increased intestinal lymphatic pressure during rapid intravenous
infusions.
