ORAL SODIUM LACTATE IN THE TREATMENT OF BURN SHOCK

Abstract

The shock syndrome which follows severe burns is accompanied by hemoconcentration and diminished plasma volume.¹Early efforts to combat the shock symptoms by intravenous administration of electrolyte solution or dextrose or both were disappointing. Therapeutic emphasis then shifted to the use of serum or plasma because it was expected that these protein containing fluids would remain longer in circulation and thus would have more time to reduce the hemoconcentration and to restore the diminished plasma volume. Concentrated human albumin²has also been used to accomplish these objectives by the additional mechanism of drawing fluid into the circulation. Actually, however, the problem is far more complicated. Recent accounts of two catastrophes involving many burn cases, the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor³and the Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston,⁴have indicated the relatively high mortality from severe burns even when large amounts of plasma are used. The English