Blood flow in the small intestine of cat and man as analyzed by an inert gas washout technique.

Using a recently developed 85Kr-elimination technique, blood flow and flow distribution of the human small intestine have been investigated in patients during abdominal surgery. Total intestinal blood flow was estimated to be 38 +/- 4 ml per min and 100 g of intestinal tissue (mean +/- SE: n = 19), jejunal blood flow being slightly higher than ileal. In 14 of these patients muscularis blood flow was determined to be 21 +/- 2 ml per min and 100 g of muscularis tissue and mucosal-submucosal blood flow was calculated to be 51 +/- 6 ml per min and 100 g of mucosal-submucosal tissue. Seventy-five +/- 3% of total blood flow was distributed to the mucosa-submucosa and the remaining 25 +/- 3% to the muscularis. It was demonstrated that an increasing fraction of flow was diverted to the mucosa-submucosa with enhanced total intestinal blood flow. The human gut exhibited great qualitative and quantitative circulatory similarities with the feline small intestine.