The Relative Pressures within Cutaneous Lymphatic Capillaries and the Tissues

The pressure in the cutaneous lymphatic capillaries of normal mice anesthetized with nembutal ranged between 0.0 and 2.7 cm. of water. Measurements of the interstitial pressure in the tissue immediately next the lymphatics showed that, in more than half the instances studied, there was a slight gradient of pressure from the tissues to the lymph. In nearly all the other instances the pressures inside and outside the lymphatic capillaries were approximately equal. In two cases in which lymph flow in the capillaries was rapid, the lymph pressure may have been negative. Under these circumstances there must have been a considerable gradient of pressure from the tissues to the lymph. In skin which was rapidly becoming, or had recently become, edematous as result of the application of xylol or of heat, the intralymphatic capillary pressure generally was increased, yet when compared with the pressure prevailing in the edema fluid outside of the capillaries it was usually found to be relatively much lower, at times by as much as 5.9 cm. of water. The findings indicate that a pressure gradient is an important factor in lymph formation under normal and pathological circumstances.