Evaluation of Red Cell Equilibration in Hemorrhagic Shock

Introduction THE use of the animal model in studying shock in the laboratory has proved a valuable tool in understanding some of the pathophysiologic changes seen in the shock syndrome. However, attempts to verify experimental findings in the human counterpart often have been less than satisfactory. As a result, therapeutic principles derived from animal experimentation have not always been acceptable for application in a given clinical circumstance. Furthermore, greater significance may be placed upon reliable data gathered from the shock patient, as some dynamic changes in the animal model do not appear uniformly in deep shock. The most logical attitude, it would appear, is to approach the animal for investigation and the human for verification. Therefore, when experimental results are substantiated in the patient, any principle of mechanistic or therapeutic import will be sound. Bearing this approach in mind, investigation of the characteristics of red cell equilibration in dogs was