The responses to alterations in extravascular pressure were studied in five orders of arterioles in the cheek pouch of normotensive and renal hypertensive hamsters. Renal hypertension was induced by bilateral compression of both kidneys using figure-of-eight ligatures. Ten to 16 days later, hamsters were anesthetized with pentobarbital (6.0 mg/100 g body weight) and a Plexiglas chamber was positioned in the cheek pouch. Chamber pressure, or extravascular pressure, was increased and decreased by ± 10, 20, and 40 mm Hg, and arteriolar diameters were monitored continuously. The responses at −20 mm Hg and the slope of the linear portion of the chamber pressure-diameter curve (arteriolar gains) were compared between groups for each branching order of arteriole. Arteriolar responses at one chamber pressure and the arteriolar gains were enhanced in third and fourth order arterioles of the renal hypertensive group compared with the normotensive group, and the responses of these small arterioles were greater than those of larger arterioles in both groups. Control diameters of second and third order arterioles were significantly smaller in the renal hypertensive group, while the diameters after adenosine were not different. These results suggest that the enhanced responses of small arterioles in the renal hypertensive group were hot related to structural alterations but may be related to an increased reactivity of smooth muscles in these small arterioles to volume expansion, thus a pressure stimulus.