Evaluation of tracheal mucosal blood flow during an extended radical operation for esophageal carcinoma: clinical and experimental studies.

Using the hydrogen gas clearance method, a plate-type probe was attached to the surface of the cuff of an endotracheal tube in order to measure the ischemic changes in the tracheal mucosa produced by peritracheal lymph node dissection. In eight human subjects with intrathoracic esophageal carcinoma, the tracheal mucosal blood flow was 40.1 ml/100 g per minute after they had undergone a right thoracotomy and then decreased to 13.0 ml/100 g per minute after they had further received an extended radical operation preserving the right bronchial artery. No tracheal ulcers were seen. The same ischemic changes in the tracheal mucosa were also measured in dogs. The right bronchial artery contributes about one-third of the total blood flow to the trachea and this was thus calculated to be about 10-14 ml/100 g per minute.