• R Nevière, J L Chagnon, B Vallet, N Lebleu, X Marechal, D Mathieu, F Wattel, and B Dupuis.
• Service de Réanimation Médicale et Médecine Hyperbare, Hôpital Calmette, Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire de Lille, France.
• Crit. Care Med. 1997 Aug 1;25(8):1371-7.

ObjectiveTo test the hypothesis that saline solution plus dobutamine increases gastrointestinal mucosal perfusion better than saline solution alone in a model of endotoxic shock.DesignProspective, randomized, unblinded study.SettingAnimal research laboratory affiliated with a university teaching hospital.SubjectsTwelve female pigs, weighing 30 to 32 kg.InterventionsAnimals were anesthetized, and their lungs were mechanically ventilated. Catheters were inserted into the right atrium, pulmonary artery, and carotid artery for blood sampling and blood pressure and cardiac output measurements. A tonometer and a laser Doppler probe were placed in the lumen of the stomach and the ileum for determination of mucosal acid-base status and measurement of mucosal blood flow. Group 1 animals (n = 6) received an infusion (T = 0 min) of 150 mcirog/kg Escherichia coli endotoxin and normal saline solution (0.3 mL/kg/min). Group 2 animals (n = 6) received an infusion of endotoxin and were resuscitated with the same method as used in group 1, but an infusion of dobutamine (5 microg/kg/min) was begun at T = 60 mins, and continued for the duration of the experiment.Measurements And Main ResultsBoth experimental regimens produced shock, with decreased mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance, without change in cardiac output and oxygen delivery. Endotoxin plus saline infusion decreased gastrointestinal mucosal blood flow to <60% of baseline and decreased gastrointestinal pH. In contrast, gastrointestinal mucosal blood flow returned to baseline values, and intramucosal pH tended to normalize by the end of the saline solution plus dobutamine resuscitative protocol.ConclusionCompared with saline solution alone, saline solution plus dobutamine increased blood flow to the gastrointestinal mucosa, and may have partially improved oxygenation.

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