USE OF SODIUM CHLORID IN TREATMENT OF INTESTINAL OBSTRUCTION

Abstract

The toxemia of high intestinal obstruction results from the action of some poison, the exact source and nature of which are a matter of dispute. The toxic agent causes a marked destruction of tissue protein. Whipple¹and his associates have shown that, when the intestine of the dog is experimentally obstructed, there is an increased nitrogen excretion coincident with a high level of nonprotein and urea nitrogen in the blood. The increase of nonprotein nitrogen in the blood is due largely to the fact that the nitrogenous bodies are being formed more rapidly than they can be excreted by the kidney. Actual renal insufficiency plays only a small rôle in the intoxication in most instances. It is noteworthy that, notwithstanding the large amount of research work done on intestinal obstruction and the acceptance of the fact that the intoxication is essentially a chemical one, no advance has been made