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Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition logoLink to Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition
. 1999 Sep;81(2):F105–F109. doi: 10.1136/fn.81.2.f105

Tonometry to estimate intestinal perfusion in newborn piglets

M Campbell, J E Van Aerde, P Cheung, D Mayes
PMCID: PMC1720979  PMID: 10448177

Abstract

AIM—To determine the correlation between gastric intramucosal pH and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) flow in newborn piglets.
METHODS—Fourteen newborn piglets were randomly assigned to either a control or to an epinephrine group which received 0,1,2,4,0 µg/kg/min of epinephrine for 60 minutes, each dose. Gastric tonometry was performed, SMA flow was measured, and intramucosal pH and the ratio of tonometer pCO2 over arterial pCO2 (rCO2) were calculated.
RESULTS—Intramucosal pH decreased over time in both groups, but tended to be lower in the epinephrine group. With increasing dose of epinephrine, SMA flow decreased; this in turn increased rCO2 (p = 0.04) with a tendency to decrease intramucosal pH (p = 0.06).
CONCLUSIONS—Gastric tonometry may be useful in human neonates to evaluate gut ischaemia.



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Selected References

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