Peroperative evaluation of the viability of ischaemic colon in primates.

An experimental model of’ ischaemic colitis was produced in 14 rhesus monkeys by complete vascular occlusion to the splenic flexure for periods varying from 4 to 8.5 hours. Clinical assessment of bowel viability following revascularization was inaccurate in 10 monkeys. Reactive hyperaemia was quantitatively measured using 99mtechnetium-tagged albumin microspheres and this correlated well with autopsy findingsa marked hyperaemic response suggested a transient form of ischaemic colitis; a diminished or absent hyperaemic response predicted the development of strictures or gangrene of the colon segment. A clinical trial is currently being organized to assess the viability of ischaemic bowel at laparotomy.