Effect of acute ischemia on the motility of the small bowel in the awake dog

Abstract

The effect of acute ischemia obtained by clamping the feeding arteries was studied on a 30-cm loop of upper jejunum in mongrel dogs. In order to eliminate the side-effects of anesthetics on the small bowel, the studies were performed on the awake dog, where access to the upper jejunum was permitted by the construction of a jejunostomy with a Roux-en-Y anastomosis for reestablishment of intestinal continuity. The motility was estimated after stimulation of the mucosa with a standard bolus of isotonic 0.1 N HCl. This technique presented the advantage of a much higher reproducibility than the usual recordings of the spontaneous motility alone. Acute ischemia caused an immediate hyperexcitability of the segment of jejunum under study despite complete destruction of the mucosa followed by an irregular hyperexcitable pattern during the first 48 h after injury. The controls on the other hand presented a strongly diminished response to stimulation with a slow recovery.