EXPERIMENTAL PULMONARY CONTUSION - REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND DESCRIPTION OF A NEW PORCINE MODEL

In the setting of pulmonary contusion, massive crystalloid resuscitati on of hemorrhagic shock may promote increased lung water leading to st iffer lungs and ultimately culminating in adult respiratory distress s yndrome. The emergence of fluids that enable the clinician to resuscit ate the bleeding trauma victim by using minimal fluid volumes offers n ew avenues of investigation for resuscitation of traumatic lung injury . Unfortunately, there has been very little experimental work in the a rea of pulmonary contusion in the past 15 years. We describe a new por cine model for experimental traumatic lung injury that appears to repl icate the clinical scenario.