Abstract
Summary and Conclusions
(1) Plasma volume was determined in patients undergoing ether anesthesia and surgical operation. Seven patients served as controls, 9 received desoxycorticosterone acetate (subcutaneously) at varying time intervals before operation, and 3 received crude adrenal cortical hormone (intravenously) immediately before the anesthetic. (2) Of the 7 patients serving as controls, 2 showed a significant fall in plasma volume during ether anesthesia alone, 5 during the period of operation, and one, one-half hour postoperatively. In none of these controls was there a significant increase in plasma volume during any of the 3 periods studied. (3) Six patients were given desoxycorticosterone acetate subcutan-eously 3 to 4 hours before anesthesia. In this group, 3 patients showed a significant increase in plasma volume during the period of anesthesia alone, one patient during the operation, and 5 patients one-half hour after the operation. There were no patients in this group who showed a significant fall in plasma volume during any of the 3 periods. (4) In this small series of patients who have undergone surgical procedures accompanied by slight blood loss, the decrease in plasma volume associated with ether anesthesia and these surgical procedures is small. This small decrease in plasma volume is not present when patients have been given desoxycorticosterone acetate subcutaneously 3 to 4 hours before operation.
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