Retransfusion acidosis after haemorrhagic hypotension in dogs

• Published in: Injury Vol. 5; no. 3; pp. 239 - 243
• Main Authors: Szántó, G., Takács, L., Vándor, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 1974
• Subjects: Acid-Base Equilibrium; Acidosis - blood; Acidosis - etiology; Acidosis - metabolism; Animals; Bicarbonates - blood; Blood; Blood Pressure; Blood Transfusion; Blood Volume; Carbon Dioxide - blood; Dextrans - therapeutic use; Dogs; Female; Femoral Vein; Hemorrhage - complications; Hepatic Veins; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Hypotension - etiology; Lactates - blood; Male; Oxygen - blood; Partial Pressure; Plasma Substitutes - therapeutic use; Portal Vein; Potassium - blood; Pyruvates - blood
• ISSN: 0020-1383; 1879-0267
• DOI: 10.1016/S0020-1383(74)80016-1

Anaesthetized dogs subjected to severe haemorrhagic hypotension followed by spontaneous uptake of 30 per cent of the shed blood were studied. One group was then transfused with blood, another with low molecular weight dextran, and a third with Locke's solution. During the hypotensive phase, the arterial pH, standard bicarbonate, buffer base and Pco 2 fell, while the lactate, pyruvate, and potassium values rose. Within half a minute of retransfusion, the pH decreased further but the Pco 2 rose to normal or higher values. The greatest fall in pH occurred in the dextran group, but the pH of dextran is lower than that of the reinfused blood or Locke's solution. The fall in pH and rise in Pco 2 after retransfusion occur with unchanged lactate levels and so cannot be attributed to ‘washout’ of lactate from the tissues.