Interstitial and intravascular pressures in conscious dogs during head-out water immersion

Water immersion (WI) causes an increase in plasma volume in humans and dogs. To determine the mechanism for this fluid movement, the transmission of external water hydrostatic pressure to the interstitial and vascular compartments was studied in six conscious dogs. Systemic arterial, central venous, peripheral arterial (ulnar artery) and venous (cephalic vein), pleural, intra-abdominal, and interstitial fluid hydrostatic (by Guyton's capsule and wick catheter method) pressures and external reference water pressure were measured at three different levels of WI: 1) extremities only, 2) midchest, and 3) midcervical levels at 37°C. There was a significant linear relationship between interstitial fluid hydrostatic pressure (X) and external water pressure (Y): (Y = 0.86X + 1.4, r = 0.93 by Guyton's capsule; Y = 0.85X + 2.4, r = 0.93 by wick catheter. However, vascular pressures did not change when dogs were immersed at the level of the extremities. These pressures increased only during WI at the midchest and midcervical levels. Therefore the pressure gradient that develops between the interstitial and intravascular compartments is probably the major reason for the transcapillary fluid shift during WI.