The Gastrointestinal Circulation

Research on the gastrointestinal circulation, particularly the developments of the last 5 years, is reviewed in this article . Older surveys document earlier work. H In general, new discoveries in this field relate to the normal structure and function of the gastrointestinal circulation, to its abnormalities and diseases, or to drugs active in the gastrointestinal circulation. Our objectives are: to inform the reader of newer knowledge in these three areas, to provide background information which the reader needs to interpret recent reports in this field, and to evaluate critically the newer information. The review is organized as follows. First, we discuss methodological research, because other advances depend heavily on newer techniques. Next, we discuss the stomach-first the relationship between blood flow and gastric secretion and then the relationship of blood flow to ulcer disease. Third, we discuss the physiology and pathology of the circulation of the intestine. This has been an area of particularly fruitful research. Finally, we review investigations of the circulations of other digestive organs.