The influences of changes in temperature on intestinal lymph flow and relationship to operations for carcinoma of the intestine.

The effect of cooling, freezing and warming temperatures on the flow of lymph from the intestines was studied in dogs. When intestinal temperatures were dropped to an average of approximately 40 degrees F., an immediate decrease in lymph flow occurred to a mean value 33 per cent of control levels. With rewarming, lymph flow increased rapidly, rebounding to a level almost twice as great as that in controls. When the intestines were subjected to hypothermia to the point of freezing, lymph flow decreased immediately with flow rates dropping to only 6.6 per cent of control levels. Techniques for achieving freezing in these studies were inefficient, and uniform freezing was not always obtained. Again, with rewarming there was an immediate rise in lymph flow to levels significantly above those in controls. In hyperthermic studies to temperatures of 103 degrees F., a biphasic reaction was noted with an initial increase in lymph flow averaging 71 per cent higher than that in controls followed rapidly by a drop in lymph flow significantly below control levels. These experiments demonstrate that hypothermia, particularly below freezing temperatures, may rapidly decrease and virtually stop lymph flow from an intestinal segment. This suggests that hypothermia might be useful as an adjunctive measure in the operative management of patients with carcinomas of the gastrointestinal tract.