Increased intestinal permeability following blunt and penetrating trauma

Abstract

Intestinal permeability is increased in the first 48 hrs posttrauma and decreases with recovery. Although one third of the patients had highly increased lactulose/mannitol ratios posttrauma, severity of injury, assessed by common scoring techniques, did not correlate with the degree of permeability. Tolerance to jejunal administration of lactulose and mannitol is improved with a slow infusion of a dilute solution over a 3-hr period compared with bolus administration.