Mucosal/submucosal blood flow in the small intestine in pigs determined by local washout of 133Xe and microsphere techniques.

In 11 anaesthetized pigs a laparotomy was performed and the mucosal and submucosal blood flow rate in the small intestine of the pig was determined by a local application of 133Xe and by 6.5-microns radioactive microspheres. The 133Xe washout plotted in a semilogarithmic diagram showed a multiexponential configuration. As localization studies of 133Xe in the intestinal mucosa showed a constant high concentration of 133Xe in the luminal part of the mucosa due to shunting by diffusion, the initial slope of the 133Xe washout was used for blood flow determination in the mucosa/submucosa. There was a good relationship between blood flow determined by the two techniques. The correlation coefficient, R, between the two techniques was 0.89.