Fluid coming out of circulation

[reising1]

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I found out today that the pressure responsible for forcing fluid out of circulation is the capillary hydrostatic pressure.

I had guessed that it was the lymphatic hydrostatic pressure that was responsible for this. Since it's not, what is lymphatic hydrostatic pressure responsible for? I thought lymph was simply fluid coming out of circulation, coming mostly from interstitial areas.

 

[mik30102]

I'm not really sure what your asking.. Your blood vessels naturally leak a little fluid into the interstitial spaces in the body. The lymph systems job is to drain this fluid and put it back into the blood ( there is a re entry point near the clavicles). From what I remember muscle contraction helps push the leaked fluid or lymph through the lymphatic system to get to that re entry point.This muscle contraction increases the hydrostatic pressure. I believe there are one way valves in the lymph system just like there are in veins (though I could be wrong).

 

[reising1]

My question is: what is lymphatic hydrostatic pressure, and what is it responsible for, where does it act on, how is it formed, etc.

 

[mik30102]

I just looked it up and confirmed there are one way valves. So to answer your question lymphatic hydrostatic pressure is the pressure in the lymphatic vessel. As this pressure goes up more lymph fluid is drained to the re-entry point in the clavicle (as there are one way valves and the only place for the fluid to go is towards this point and not away from it). The main thing that causes this pressure increase is muscle contraction from skeletal muscles which put pressure on these vessels. There is also a small amount of smooth muscle around the vessel which also helps propel the fluid towards the reentry point.