DIASPIRIN CROSS-LINKED HEMOGLOBIN IS EFFICACIOUS IN GUT RESUSCITATIONAS MEASURED BY A GI TRACT OPTODE

The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of diaspirin c ross-linked hemoglobin (DCLHb) with that of standard resuscitative flu ids in restoring intestinal mucosal oxygenation and villous architectu re after hemorrhage. Male rats were bled to a base deficit of 5 +/- 2 nmol/l under propofol anesthesia and monitored for 90 minutes postresu scitation with DCLHb, blood, lactated Ringer's solution, albumin, or n othing (DNR) for mucosal oxygen tension (Pmo(2)) and physiologic and l aboratory parameters. Small intestinal histologic specimens were obtai ned and scored independently by two investigators blinded to therapy o n a scale of 0 (normal) to 4 (worst). All treatments restored Pmo(2); only DCLHb did so without exceeding baseline values. For untreated rat s (DNR), Pmo(2) was not restored. Normal mucosal architecture was main tained only in DCLHb-treated rats. As Pmo(2) increased, mucosal score improved. In a rat model of controlled hemorrhage, Pmo(2) changes meas ured by an optode correlated with gut histological abnormalities. By t hese criteria, DCLHb is superior to crystalloid, colloid, and blood in gut resuscitation.