SLUDGED BLOOD FOLLOWING SEVERE THERMAL BURNS

Abstract

THE PURPOSE of this paper is to report the presence and to discuss the significance of sludged blood following severe thermal burns. Three sets of pathologic mechanisms are proposed: (1) a mechanism for the production of burn shock, (2) a mechanism for the production of postburn anemia and (3) a mechanism seemingly capable of being at least a factor in the postburn "toxemia." GENERAL PROBLEMS The pathologic alterations in the physiology of mammals following thermal burns have been attributed to almost as many factors as there have been investigators in the field. However, in spite of a great deal of accumulated experimental data, the factors determining the altered physiology of human patients during the first twenty-four to seventy-two hours following a severe burn continue to present important clinical problems. Prior to the introduction of tannic acid therapy by Davidson in 1925, the mortality rate within the first forty-eight hours after