THE EFFICACY OF GELATIN SOLUTIONS AND OTHER CELL-FREE FLUIDS IN REVERSING THE EFFECTS OF NEARLY COMPLETE EXSANGUINATION

Abstract

Barbitalized dogs pretreated by intraven. saline injn. were almost completely exsanguinated by controlled bleeding, and injected with various replacement fluids. The fatal hemorrhage vol. 4 hrs. later was used as an index to the relative effectiveness of the fluids in reversing the effects of the 1st hemorrhage. As measured in this manner, the order of effectiveness of the fluids studied was: whole blood > 3.9% gelatin P-2CT > plasma and serum > 3.45% gelatin L-80> 2.8% gelatin B-20610-51 > 0.9% NaCl. The gelatin solns. are approx. iso-osmolar, and have about the same colloidal osmotic pressure in vitro as dog plasma. Dehydrated dogs (without saline pretreatment) were studied in similar expts. for evidence of damaging effects of gelatin P-20. The vol. remaining in the circulation at death was not significantly greater than in dogs replaced with whole blood. Blood replenishment during the final hemorrhage was at least as great as in animals replaced with whole blood. The circulating blood vol. maintained following the replacement was at least as great as that maintained by dogs replaced with whole blood. Replacement with higher cones, of gelatin P-20 (6%) produced larger circulating blood vols. No evidence was obtained that the higher cones, produced additional cardiovascular damage under these exptl. conditions.