Intestinal ischemia is a common clinical event and reperfusion results in further tissue damage exceeding that of ischemia alone. The present study was designed to test this and to assess the role of pentoxifylline, (administered intravenously as a bolus dose of 25 mg/kg in 1 ml normal saline, followed by continuous infusion of 0.2 mg/kg/minute for 95 minutes), in ischemia-reperfusion injury of the rat intestine. Intestinal ischemia was produced by occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) with interruption of the collateral flow for 30 minutes. Reperfusion was established by declamping the (SMA) for 1 hour and evaluation of the mucosal damage was determined using a grading scale from 0 to 5, with estimation of mean mucosal thickness, villous height and crypt depth. The grade of mucosal damage, mucosal thickness, villous height and crypt depth were 2.2, 407 microns, 210 microns, and 196 microns respectively in the ischemia group, and 3.6, 327 microns, 156 microns, and 171 microns respectively in the ischemia reperfusion group, while these values in ischemia reperfusion with administration of pentoxifylline group were 2.5, 505 microns, 294 microns, and 200 microns respectively. The severity of the tissue injury increased considerably after reperfusion of the ischemic intestine and pentoxifylline was effective in attenuating the reperfusion injury significantly.