Adverse effects of resuscitation with lactated ringer compared with ringer solution after severe hemorrhagic shock in rats.

Lactated Ringer (LR) is a widely used resuscitation fluid that is known to mediate beneficial effects on acid-base balance when compared with normal saline. We here compared LR with the more physiological Ringer solution (RS) regarding acid-base status, hemodynamics, survival, and organ injury following fluid resuscitation subsequent to severe hemorrhagic shock. Anesthetized rats were hemorrhaged to a mean arterial blood pressure of 25 to 30 mmHg within 30 min. After 60 min, they were resuscitated with either RS or LR (three times the shed blood volume) or with RS or LR plus blood (shed blood plus twice its volume) within 30 min. Subsequently, the animals were observed for further 150 min. When the rats were resuscitated with pure LR or RS, all animals of the shock/LR group, but only three of eight shock/RS group rats were dead 100 min later (median survival, 50 ± 13.1 vs. 120 ± 14.1 min; P < 0.05). Coadministration of the shed blood with RS or LR increased the survival rates to 100%. In these blood-resuscitated groups, organ injury, especially of the kidney, was diminished by the use of RS compared with LR. Time-matched acid-base parameters were not different in all shock groups until death of the animals or euthanasia at the end of experimental time. We conclude that, in severe hemorrhagic shock, resuscitation with RS leads to an improved outcome compared with resuscitation with LR, regardless whether blood is coadministered or not.