Intestinal capillary blood flow studied with fluorescein flowmetry in hemorrhagically shocked rats.

The intestinal capillary blood flow in hemorrhagic shock was studied in 32 rats by fluorescein flowmetry (FF). FF implies the measurement of relative intestinal capillary blood flow, expressed as an index. Exsanguination to 35 mmHg for 180 min resulted in a heterogeneous fluorescence pattern with 51% difference in blood flow index between the areas with most and those with least fluorescence, compared with 14% in the control group. Following retransfusion of the shed blood, the difference in blood flow index between areas with most and least fluorescence was 54%, suggesting that the heterogeneous blood flow was not improved by retransfusion. Heterogeneity of the capillary blood flow in the intestines seems to be a phenomenon of hemorrhagic shock and FF to be a suitable method for studying this condition.