Coagulation Time Following Hemorrhage After Splenectomy.

Abstract

In 1914 H. Gray and L. K. Lunt 1 reported that blood obtained from a cat, which had been subjected to a hemorrhage amounting to 13 per cent of its blood volume, coagulated at a much greater rapidity than the blood obtained from the same animal prior to the hemorrhage. The most important organs having to do with this change were found by Gray and Lunt to be located below the diaphragm and they expressed the opinion that the liver, together with the intestines and possibly the adrenals, were probably responsible for the addition of substances which made the increased rapidity of coagulation possible.

In 1924 Barcroft, Harris, Orahovats and Weiss 2 reported upon the contraction of the spleen under conditions which require an increased amount of circulating hemoglobin. In hemorrhage, the spleen, by contraction, was found to be able in the cat to fully compensate for a loss of 1/15 of the total blood volume.

Our experiments were undertaken to determine what influence this ejection of splenic blood in hemorrhage might have in causing the increased rapidity of coagulation. Dogs were used in all the experiments and in some cases the coagulation time was obtained before and after hemorrhage both prior to splenectomy as well as afterwards. In the last few animals the tests were made only after splenectomy. Periods varying from 1 week to 3 1/2 months were allowed to elapse between the date of the splenectomy and the time of the hemorrhage experiment. Blood for each test was drawn, with a clean dry hypodermic needle, from exposed veins, and the coagulation time was determined in all cases by two methods, the Dale and Laidlaw 3 and the Peterson and Mills 4 .