Renal blood flow and function in the rabbit after surgical trauma. IV. Effects of ureteral ligation.

After 1, 2, 4, 7, 14 and 21 days of ureteral occlusion, renal blood flow was measured on both sides by means of a dye-dilution method and the glomerular and tubular functions were evaluated by measuring the extraction of 51-Cr-EDTA and 125-I-Hippuran. The results showed an increase in the weight of the obstructed kidney parenchyma and indicated an incipient compensatory hypertrophy of the contralateral kidney after 14 days of occlusion. The blood flow to the occluded kidney was reduced on the first day after ligation and ranged in all experiments between 24% and 44% of the total renal blood flow, without correlation to the duration of stasis. The blood flow to the contralateral kidney was mostly above the average in the control group. A small glomerular and tubular extraction was noted in more than 50% of the ligated kidneys. The glomerular filtration rate and the clearance of Hippuran by the contralateral kidney were increased after one day of occlusion, but no relationship between the changes in renal function and the duration of ligation was revealed. It is concluded that ureteral ligation causes a decrease in the blood flow to the occluded kidney and an increase in that to the contralateral kidney. The function of the contralateral kidney increases initially, but thereafter only as a consequence of the compensatory hypertrophy which is evident around the 14th day post occlusion.