Intestinal ischemic shock and the protective role of the liver

Abstract

A study has been made of the effects of intestinal ischemia of 2 hours' duration on hemodynamics and survival time of mongrel dogs. When the arterial supply to the liver was kept intact during ischemia of the remainder of the splanchnic bed, circulatory collapse ensued at an average time of 7 hours after release of the ischemic compression. When the blood supply to the liver was virtually eliminated, survival was reduced to an average of less than 3 hours (P = <0.02). The view is favored that the anoxic intestine elaborates a vasotoxic substance, which in the absence of normal liver function invades the systemic circulation with deleterious consequences on the cardiovascular system. The nature of this substance or substances is unknown, as is its specific mode of action.