RESPONSE OF NORMAL SUBJECTS TO ACUTE BLOOD LOSS

Abstract

Studies on the response of the body to acute blood loss are of both theoretic and practical importance because hemorrhage is a serious complication in many medical and surgical conditions. In man, controlled observations on the effect of hemorrhage on the circulation, the plasma volume, the protein concentration and the cell-plasma ratio are difficult to obtain because the immediate care of the patient requires the complete attention of the physician and because the amount of blood lost is not known. In addition, the underlying disease producing the hemorrhage may alter the response of the body. Although many investigators have studied the effect of acute blood loss on lower animals, few studies on human subjects have been made under controlled conditions. Keith¹ observed changes in hematocrit reading and blood volume as determined by the dye method after the removal of 800 cc. of blood from a normal man. He found