[Tissue microdialysis: practical and theoretical aspects]

Microdialysis is now widely used for the study of peripheral tissues. This technique allows the monitoring of metabolites and small molecules from the extracellular compartment as well as local delivery of metabolically active agents to this compartment. The purpose of this review was to present a practical approach (different types of probes, molecular cut-off, perfusion rate, dialysis buffer) and discuss the theoretical aspects of in vivo microdialysis (probe efficiency, recovery, perfusion rate, quantification of tissular metabolism). Our goal was to provide researchers with the practical tools needed for rapid mastery of in vivo tissular microdialysis.