• E Christiaan Boerma, Peter H J van der Voort, Peter E Spronk, and Can Ince.
• Department of Physiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
• Crit. Care Med. 2007 Apr 1;35(4):1055-60.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the relation between sublingual and intestinal microcirculatory alterations in patients with abdominal sepsis.DesignProspective observational study.SettingA 23-bed mixed intensive care unit of a tertiary teaching hospital.PatientsTwenty-three patients with abdominal sepsis and a newly constructed intestinal stoma were included in the study group. Nineteen outpatient healthy individuals with an intestinal stoma and ten nonsepsis patients with a <24-hr-old intestinal stoma were included as controls.InterventionsNone.Measurements And Main ResultsOrthogonal polarization spectral imaging of the sublingual and intestinal microcirculation was performed on days 1 and 3. In addition, variables of systemic hemodynamics, such as cardiac index, heart rate, blood pressure, central venous pressure, and dosages of vasopressor and inotropic agents, were obtained. On day 1 there was no correlation of the microvascular flow index between the sublingual and intestinal microcirculatory beds (Spearman's rho [rs] = .12; 95% confidence interval, -.51 to .31; p = .59). Furthermore, there was no significant correlation between microcirculatory alterations and variables of systemic circulation (rs ConclusionsOn day 1 of abdominal sepsis there is a complete dispersion of flow, not only between hemodynamic compartments of a different order but also between the sublingual and intestinal microcirculation. Over time, both sublingual and intestinal microvascular flow indexes trended to normal values.

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