Concentrated Serum in Treatment of Traumatic and Histamine Shock in Experimental Animals

Abstract

In wound shock there is a fall in blood vol. and capillary atony. A vasoconstrictor should first be administered to correct vascular atony and blood vol. should be increased by an osmotically adequate soln. of biologically acceptable constituents. Concentrated blood serum fulfills these requirements and keeps indefinitely. Expts. were made on some 70 dogs under deep nembutal anesthesia. Blood pressure, cell vol., blood vol. and serum protein were detd. Methods are given. Histamine shock and trauma, with or without extensive hemorrhage, were induced. Pituitrin is preferable to adrenalin before intraven. inj. of concentrated serum. The serum was given when the blood pressure was rising. 4 blood-pressure tracings are given and 3 tables recording the full data for the 3 types of shock mentioned above. The expts. indicate that in traumatic shock, at least, inj. of a hypertonic fluid is more beneficial than an isotonic one of the same constituents. Cf. ibid. p.814, Transfusions of plasma, and p.828, Discussion at Pathological Soc. of Manchester on the value of plasma.