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Hans-Christoph Pape, MD; Dierk Remmers, MD; Martin Grotz, MD; Jörg Kotzerke, MD; Sabine von Glinski, MD; Martijn van Griensven, PhD; Michael Dahlweid, MD; Susanne Sznidar, MD; Harald Tscherne, MD

Arch Surg. 1999;134:421-427.

Hypothesis  Reticuloendothelial system function is altered in patients with multiple trauma and organ failure.

Design  Prospective cohort study.

Setting  Surgical intensive care unit at a level I trauma center.

Patients  Patients with multiple blunt trauma and injury severity scores greater than 20, with no referrals.

Interventions  Every second day reticuloendothelial system (RES) clearance capacity and liver blood flow were determined by administering labeled human albumin. Liver function was measured by enzymatic decay of indocyanine green, and levels of plasma tumor necrosis factor were evaluated.

Results  In nonsurviving patients with blunt trauma, RES function was altered and was associated with organ dysfunction and infectious complications. Of 61 patients, 42 survived and 19 did not. Sixteen patients (84%) died of multiple organ failure. Significantly elevated RES activity (colloid clearance rate) was present between day 5 and day 13 after trauma in nonsurvivors (0.86 ± 0.16 [mean ± SD] on day 7, P = .003) compared with survivors (0.48 ± 0.08 on day 7) and 20 healthy volunteers (0.47 ± 0.06); RES activity then decreased to subnormal levels in nonsurvivors. Tumor necrosis factor plasma levels were elevated early after injury only in nonsurvivors (on day 1: nonsurvivors, 1.2 ± 0.4 ng/mL [mean ± SD];survivors, 0.5 ± 0.2 ng/mL; P = .02). Indocyanine green half-life values increased late after trauma, indicating late organ failure (on day 19: nonsurvivors, 111 ± 29 minutes [mean ± SD]; survivors, 12 ± 4 minutes; P<.001).

Conclusions  Early after trauma, nonsurviving patients demonstrated increased proinflammatory cytokine levels, followed by a state of pathological hyperactivation of the reticuloendothelial system prior to death. These results indicate that the stationary host defense system is involved in the mechanisms causing organ failure after severe trauma.

From the Department of Trauma Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany (Drs Pape, Remmers, Grotz, Griensven, Dahlweid, Sznidar, and Tscherne); Department of Nuclear Medicine, Ulm University, Ulm Germany (Dr Kotzerke); and the San Francisco Orthopaedic Residency Program, San Francisco, Calif (Dr von Glinski). The authors have no commercial, proprietary, or financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.

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