In response to previous demonstrations that either surgical or chemical sympathectomy can ameliorate the severity of acute experimental pancreatitis, and suggestions that the benefits of sympathectomy are related to alterations in the absolute blood flow or the pattern of blood flow within the pancreas or splanchnic organs, we studied blood flow in rats with acute deoxycholate pancreatitis. The animals had preliminary chemical sympathectomy with a false neurotransmitter (oxidopamine) prior to the experiment and were studied for 120 min after the onset of pancreatitis. All animals with pancreatitis had a fall in cardiac output by 120 min but maintained blood flow to the heart and brain by increasing the percent of cardiac output to these organs. Despite a 61% decrease in cardiac output, at 120 min the chemical sympathectomy group showed an increase in the percentage of flow within the pancreas. However, there was no change in the absolute organ blood flow in any group except at the 10 min measurement, when the pancreata showed an absolute increase in all groups. This study does not support the concept that chemical sympathectomy is beneficial in acute pancreatitis but does indicate a specific and possibly beneficial effect on the distribution of pancreatic blood flow. The decreased cardiac output after chemical sympathectomy is a clear disadvantage of this mode of treatment and probably disqualifies systemic chemical sympathectomy as a treatment consideration.