Intermittent flow in tendon capillary bundles.

Abstract

The capillary bed has been observed in the Achilles tendon of 40 bullfrogs and 10 guinea pigs for periods of up to 2 h. The opening and closing of adjacent capillaries in a perfused area follows the pattern originally described by Krogh for skeletal muscle but the frequency is slower, as anticipated from the lower metabolic rate of tendon. However, superimposed on this "flickering is a much slower process whereby whole bundles of 20-147 capillaries open and close with little overlap in the tissue areas perfused by each. Periods of no flow averaged 39 min in 70 bundles followed in bullfrogs and 43 min in 34 bundles followed in guinea pigs, although a few failed to open in 100 min. This bundle phenomenon is discussed in relation to the serious implications in mathematically modeling the exchange of gases and nutrients between blood and tissue and the possible errors in assuming time averaging when determining blood perfusion rates. Also mentioned are the likely effects of decompression on closed bundles and the notion is introduced that the bundle phenomenon may be a factor determining which tissues can be injured by decompression.