Therapeutic assessment of crystalloid fluid resuscitation in experimental military injury.

Background: A significant part of blast injury is accompanied by hemorrhagic shock (BS), while research on its fluid resuscitation strategies have not been reported. Although blood products are usually recommended in most resuscitation cases, they are less available in certain conditions. To this end, here, we focused on a widely used and more accessible fluid type- crystalloid fluid, in BS treatment.

Methods: We conducted studies in rats comparing the therapeutic effects of 3 different crystalloid solutions at different time points after BS, and explored the underlying mechanisms. Generally, the survival rates gradually dropped along with the time when fluid resuscitation was given.

Results: Among different types of solution, the hypertonic saline (HS) group showed the highest survival rates. The lactated Ringer's solution (LR) only displayed lifesaving effect at 0.5h resuscitation time point. Moreover, it is worth noting that the survival rates of the normal saline (NS) group at all the time points were lower than the non-treatment control. Mechanism study in rats indicated that the therapeutic differences may be caused by varied degrees of pulmonary edema and inflammatory responses under different crystalloid fluid resuscitation.

Conclusions: In conclusion, we assessed the effects and investigated the mechanisms of different crystalloid fluid resuscitation strategies for BS for the first time, which potentially contributes to the establishment of guidance for crystalloid fluid resuscitation of BS patients.