Regional blood flow to the stomach and small intestine in swine.

The radioactive microsphere technique was used to measure regional blood flow to the stomach and small intestine of pigs weighing 20 to 37 kg. Mean regional blood flow (ml/min/100 g of tissue) was least in the nonglandular region, followed in an increasing order by the pyloric gland, cardiac gland, and proper gastric (fundic) gland regions. The region of the proper gastric glands accounted for 47.5% of the total gastric blood flow, with 24.9%, 23.8%, and 3.7% of the total flow going to the cardiac gland, pyloric gland, and nonglandular regions, respectively. Although there appeared to be a blood flow gradient in the small intestine, no significant difference in blood flow between the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum was observed. Mean blood flow to the small intestine was significantly greater than that to the stomach.