Lethal triad and multi-organ dysfunction in rats following cold seawater bath and hemorrhagic shock

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of hypothermia induced by cold seawater bath and hemorrhagic shock on lethal triad, vital organ dysfunction and survival time in rats. Methods Male SD rats were subjected to cold (15 ℃) seawater bath for 2 h or blood extraction of 40% of the total blood volume from the right carotid artery, or both treatments. Blood gas, blood coagulation function and vital organ functions were detected at 4 h after successful modeling, and the survival of the rats at 72 h was observed. Results A 40% blood loss caused the core body temperature and pH value to fluctuate mildly within the normal range and partial impairment the organ functions of the rats. Cold seawater bath for 2 h resulted in rapid onset of hypothermia, coagulation dysfunction, organ function damages and a high mortality rate of the rats. Cold seawater bath further exacerbated the detrimental effects of hemorrhagic shock to cause the core body temperature to drop to 33 ℃, which failed to recover the normal temperature even after the bath. Blood gas analysis showed that cold seawater bath and hemorrhagic shock combined lowered the pH value to 7.17 and reduced the other acid and base indexes, indicating the onset of metabolic acidosis; the combined treatment also induced coagulation dysfunctions shown by obviously prolonged prothrombin time(PT) and activated partial thrombinplastin time (APTT), significantly decreased fibrinogen(FIB), and significantly increased international normalized ratio(INR). In addition, cold seawater bath significantly increased the blood parameters for the heart, liver and kidney functions in rats with hemorrhagic shock, suggesting severe functional damage of multiple organs. The survival rate was reduced to 3/16 and the survival time was shortened to 21.7 h in the rats exposed to the combined treatment. Conclusion Cold seawater bath causes a high incidence of fatal triad, induces functional impairment of the vital organs and increases the mortality of the rats with hemorrhagic shock.

Keywords

• seawater immersion
• hemorrhagic shock
• lethal triad
• multi-organ dysfunction