7.5% sodium chloride/dextran for resuscitation of trauma patients undergoing helicopter transport

M. J. Vassar, C. A. Perry, W. L. Gannaway and J. W. Holcroft
Department of Surgery, University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento.

To evaluate the use of hypertonic saline/dextran solutions in the prehospital resuscitation of severely injured patients, we administered 250 mL of either 7.5% sodium chloride/dextran 70 (HSD) (n = 83) or lactated Ringer's solution (n = 83), followed by conventional isotonic fluids, to 166 trauma patients with systolic blood pressures less than or equal to 100 mm Hg, in a prospective, randomized, double-blinded clinical trial. Patients in the sodium chloride/dextran 70 group required less fluid before hospitalization and arrived in the emergency department with higher systolic blood pressures than patients in the lactated Ringer's solution group. The rate of survival to hospital discharge for the entire cohort was 64% for patients in the sodium chloride/dextran 70 group vs 59% for patients in the lactated Ringer's solution group. The rate of survival to hospital discharge for the patients with severe head injuries was 32% for the sodium chloride/dextran 70 group vs 16% for the lactated Ringer's solution group. Actuarial survival for patients with severe head injuries in the sodium chloride/dextran 70 group compared with patients with severe head injuries in the lactated Ringer's solution group did not quite reach statistical significance. There were no adverse side effects associated with sodium chloride/dextran 70 administration. Administration of small volumes of sodium chloride/dextran 70 before hospitalization increased the blood pressure of severely injured patients more effectively than did lactated Ringer's solution and showed tendencies toward improving survival in the patients with severe head injuries.

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