Chemical Changes in the Blood of the Dog After Pyloric Obstruction

Abstract

In a chemical study of the blood after high intestinal obstruction in dogs it has been shown that the characteristic changes are a fall in chlorides, an increase in the non-protein nitrogen, and usually an increase in the carbon dioxide-combining power of the plasma.'These findings have certain points in common with the chemical changes reported by several observers in the study of the so called gastric tetany occurring after pyloric obstruction. MacCallum, Lintz, Vermilye, Leggett, and Boas 2 have shown that following section of the pylorus in dogs a fall in chlorides and an increase in the C02-combining power of the plasma occur. They conclude that the fall in chlorides is due to the loss of hydrochloric acid in the gastric juice through vomiting and that the symptoms are the result of the alkalosis. They noted that the symptoms could be relieved by injections of sodium chloride. McCann' found that following operations on the stomach which exclude acid from the duodenum, tetany develops which is similar to parathyroid tetany. In both conditions he found an increase in the CO2-combining power of the plasma. He concludes that tetany is a condition of alkalosis. Hastings, Murray, and Murray 4 have also made certain studies on the blood after ligating the pylorus in an attempt to produce gastric tetany. All of their dogs developed an alkalosis. They found also that the calcium content of the blood was slightly higher than normal, that the chlorine and sodium were decreased, and that the sulfur and phosphorus were increased. In making a study of clinical tetany Grants reports two cases with obstruction at the pylorus in which there was an increase in the CO2-combining power of the plasma. In one case he found a marked reduction in chlorides in the blood.

Experimental High Jejunostomy in the Dog, With Blood Chemical Studies

“…The chemical changes of the blood are similar to those occurring in high intestinal obstruction (6). They differ however from pyloric (7) and duodenal obstruction in that the carbon dioxide-combining power does not show any constant change and the chlorides do not show such a marked fall.…”

The Effects of Loss of Gastric and Pancreatic Secretions and the Methods for Restoration of Normal Conditions in the Body

“…From careful experimental (1,2,3) and clinical (4) studies, it has become well recognized that continued loss of gastric juice may lead rapidly to severe or fatal dehydration and alkalosis, due to secretion into the stomach with subsequent loss of large amounts of water and chlorine ion, together with a considerably smaller, but still significant amount of fixed base. Theoretically the most effective method of relieving such changes should be the intravenous administration of adequate amounts of a solution of the same inorganic composition as gastric juice, i.e.…”

Chemical Findings in the Blood of the Dog After Closed-Loop Obstruction of the Jejunum

“…The chemical changes in the blood of man and the experimental animal after simple intestinal obstruction are well established. There is typically a rapid fall in chlorides, usually a coincident rise in the CO2 combining power, and a later increase in the non-protein nitrogen and urea nitrogen (1). In such an obstruction there is probably no absorption of toxic bodies, the product either of bacterial action or of digestive activity, from the lumen of the intestine.…”