Abstract
Summary
1. Seven control dogs anesthetized with morphine sulfate and sodium barbital were bled to death at the rate of 2 cc/kg/minute. Six dogs similarly anesthetized were first subjected to a standardized hemorrhagic shock procedure and were then rein fused with all blood previously withdrawn. They were bled to death 60 minutes after reinfusion at the same rate as the normal dogs. In each instance, the residual blood volume was determined after death by perfusion with a sodium chloride-sodium citrate solution under 150 mm Hg pressure. The residual volume was partitioned into fractions obtained from (1) the superior cava-azygos, (2) the inferior cava, and (3) the cardio-pulmonary systems.
2. The average total blood volume of the control animals slightly exceeded that of the shock animals, but the difference is not believed significant. The bleeding volume was significantly greater in the control animals, and correspondingly the residual volume was greater in the shock animal.
3. There was a significant shift in the distribution of the residual volume in the animal dying in shock. As compared to the controls, there was a marked increase in the residual volume of blood retained in the inferior vena cava territory and an accompanying decrease in the superior cava-azygos system.
4. The conclusion is reached that the reduced lethal bleeding volumes after transfusion of dogs in hemorrhagic shock are not significantly due to reduction in total blood volume but to pooling of greater volumes of residual blood in the splanchnic vessels. Changes in the cardio-pulmonary residual volumes are too small to affect lethal bleeding volumes.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.