Changes in gut intramucosal pH and gut oxygen extraction ratio in a porcine model of peritonitis and hemorrhage

Abstract

Since a reduction in blood flow was preceded by a decrease in intramucosal pH, low intramucosal pH in peritonitis cannot be explained by low flow alone. Gut oxygen delivery proved to be a poor indicator of gut acidosis (i.e., low intramucosal pH). In peritonitis, a decreasing intramucosal pH was associated with an increasing oxygen extraction ratio. In hemorrhage, this association had a sharp deflection point below which a further decrease in intramucosal pH occurred concomitantly with an unchanged gut oxygen extraction ratio. Increased extraction ratio was not sufficient, not even initially, to maintain aerobic metabolism (i.e., unchanged intramucosal pH).