Treatment For Severe Blood Loss: Less Is More
Monday, May 12, 2008 - 17:28
in Health & Medicine
Intravenous administration of isotonic fluids is the standard emergency treatment in the U.S. for patients with severe blood loss, but now bioengineering researchers have reported improved resuscitation with a radically different approach. Building on earlier studies in humans that have shown benefits of intravenous fluids that are eight times saltier than normal saline, the researchers combined hypertonic saline with viscosity enhancers that thicken blood.