[Formation and importance of lymph and edema in the organism]

In accordance to a new theory of microcirculation in tissues the lymphatic fluid is not a result of a imbalance between filtration and resorption across the capillary wall, but is rather a consequence of the protein recirculation in the following manner: blood vessels--interstitial space--lymphatic vessels--blood vessels. Convective and resorptive processes within the interstitium lead to local increase of the colloid-osmotic pressure, which only decreases by diffusion in the direction of lymphatic vessels and capillaries. In this way the lymphatics and the edema formation have a protective function concerning the physiological steady state of the tissue blood supply.