Oxygen-free radicals (OFR) and circulatory shock.

During the past decade a large body of information has been collected showing that formation of short-lived highly reactive metabolites (i.e., radicals) constitutes an important principle of tissue injury. There are several sources of information which suggest that radicals are formed in connection with tissue ischemia and shock, and they may then cause damage to cells and contribute to the pathophysiology of ischemia and shock. In the present review we attempt to discuss how radicals damage tissue as well as the data which suggest that radicals are causing tissue injury in shock.