title: Anastomotic blood-flow reduction in rat small intestine with chronic radiation damage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Anastomoses in previously irradiated intestine are prone to leakage, possibly due to an impeded blood supply. Whether or not chronic radiation damage actually predisposes to a disturbed blood flow in the vicinity of anastomoses was investigated in the rat small bowel.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 2-cm segment of rat ileum was irradiated with a single dose (21 Gy). After 20 weeks an anastomosis was created in the irradiated segment and in the corresponding segment of controls. Another 4 days later local blood flow was studied with the 14C-iodoantipyrine autoradiography technique in 16 sectors around the circumference both in the anastomotic segment and in a segment 4 mm apart.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the anastomotic segment, the average blood flow was reduced in irradiated compared with non-irradiated animals in the mucosal layer (p = 0.034), but not in the muscular layer (p = 0.08). In the mesenteric quadrant blood flow was reduced in irradiated compared with non-irradiated animals, both in the mucosal layer (p = 0.012) and in the muscular layer (p = 0.05). More irradiated than non-irradiated animals showed a blood-flow reduction to 15% or more in 13-16 sectors both in the mucosal (p = 0.015) and the muscular layer (p = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results favor the hypothesis that anastomoses in previously irradiated intestine are vascularly compromized and thereby have an increased risk of leakage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Orebro Medical Center, Sweden.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jahnson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holtz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gerdin
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D000818:Animals; D000983:Antipyrine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D001345:Autoradiography; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000528:radiation effects; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D002908:Chronic Disease; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000528:radiation effects* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D011833:Radiation Injuries, Experimental / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D000983:Antipyrine; C008135:iodoantipyrine