LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE REDUCES INTESTINAL EDEMA AND FLUID LOSS

Lymphatic vessels are important in removing excess fluid from the inte stine and transporting the fluid to veins in the neck. However, in som e diseases, neck vein pressure is increased and the high pressures may slow lymph flow. This study was to test the hypothesis that lymphatic clearance of fluid from the intestine may be increased by draining th e lymphatics. Inflatable cuffs were used to increase neck vein pressur e and portal venous pressure in anesthetized sheep. The lymphatic vess el from one segment of small intestine was cannulated and drained. The lymphatic vessel to a control segment of intestine was left intact. A fter 90 min. we found significantly less fluid in the lumen of the dra ined vs. control segments (7.4 +/- 3.1 (SD) ml vs 11.5 +/- 4.7 ml per gram dry tissue, respectively). Also we found significantly less tissu e fluid in the drained vs control segments (5.3 +/- 0.3 ml/g vs 6.0 +/ - 0.4 ml/g). The findings support the hypothesis that external diversi on of lymph in the presence of an elevated central venous pressure red uces edema formation.