Lymphatic Drainage From the Peritoneal Cavity in the Dog

Accurate data concerning the extent and the routes of drainage from the abdominal cavity of patients with gastro-intestinal lesions are of extreme importance. Pulmonary involvement, so commonly associated with abdominal operations, is a sequela which may be explained by the lymphatic continuity of the two regions. Many experiments have been made in an effort to determine the site and rate of absorption from the peritoneal cavity and the routes through which such materials are removed. Cunningham1completely reviewed the literature which concerns these various phases of the problem. In the hitherto published accounts of experimental studies on the method of lymphatic drainage following peritoneal absorption, more careful attention has been given to the cytologic problems than to the lymphatic paths which are involved; also to the manner in which the foreign particles within the peritoneal cavity get into the lymph stream, whether free and independent or in phagocytic cells,