A postcapillary venule is a small venule immediately downstream of a capillary network. Its thin wall includes an endothelium supported by associated pericytes. It collects blood returning from exchange vessels and is an important site of leukocyte passage from the circulation into surrounding tissue.[ref]
In a 2006 experiment, investigators followed neutrophils in inflamed mouse postcapillary venules using real-time and time-lapse intravital microscopy. After adhering, the neutrophils crawled along the luminal surface before leaving the vessel, sometimes moving against blood flow. Genetic perturbations separated effective adhesion from subsequent crawling.[ref]
The time sequence matters: finding a neutrophil attached in one image does not establish that it has crossed the vessel wall. Following the same cell distinguishes arrest, active searching and exit, and shows why the number of adherent cells alone is an incomplete measure of recruitment.

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