Movement of fluid, albumin, and globulins with overtransfusion and hemorrhage

¹ Departments of Physiology, Baylor University College of Medicine and the University of Texas Dental Branch, Houston, Texas

Two groups of 18 morphine-pentobarbitalized dogs were used for the experiments. Determinations of plasma volume and protein concentration were made before and after the experimental procedures. The first group was bled to a mean arterial pressure of 35 mm Hg. During an average bleeding time of 74 min in which the dogs bled 48% of their circulating plasma and 47% of their total protein, 29% of the plasma and 14% of the protein removed has been replaced from extravascular sources. Those dogs that bled for the longest time gained the greatest amount of fluid and protein. Globulins comprised 74% of the protein mobilized. The second group of dogs was overtransfused with a mean volume of 85 ml/kg of whole blood. Thirty minutes after the transfusion, 20 ml/kg of plasma and 0.53 g/kg of protein escaped from the vascular system. No correlation was found between the rate of infusion and the rate of fluid and protein loss. Seventy per cent of the total protein leaving the circulation was albumin.

Key Words: homologous blood transfusion • plasma volume • protein concentration • movement of protein • blood volume • circulation • compensatory replacement • plasma shift

Submitted on February 25, 1963