The long-term objective of our research is to understand the physiologic derangements that occur during combined trauma injuries.
The specific aims are (a) to test the hypothesis that acute alcohol intake results in poor tolerance to hypotension which follows massive hemorrhage and (b) to provoke useful data on the interactions between alcohol intoxication and hypovolemic shock. Once the specific pathophysiologic changes are known, better therapeutic agents can be used to reduce mortality during the early post-injury stage. Four groups of six swine per group will be used (control, intoxicated-control, unintoxicated-shock and intoxicated-shock). The animal's tolerance level to hemorrhage will be evaluated on the basis of hemodynamic parameters (blood pressure, cardiac output, pulmonary arterial pressure, and regional blood flow to tissue and organs), blood chemicals (pH, PO2, PCO2, lactate, base excess, glucose, insulin and cortisol), eicosanoids (thromboxane, prostacyclin and leukotrienes), plasma enzymes (beta-glucuronidase, aspartate amino transferase, lactic dehydrogenase and is isoenzymes, and creatine kinase and its isoenzymes) and hematological measurements (blood cell counts and packed cell volume).
| Bottoms, G D; Fessler, J F; Johnson, M et al. (1990) Effects of acute alcohol intake on tolerance to hypotension. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 14:776-80 |
