Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers, such as HBOC-201, offer several potential advantages over conventional resuscitation solutions or banked blood in the acute treatment of hemorrhagic shock. While previous studies with some hemoglobin solutions revealed vasoactive effects resulting in decreased oxygen delivery, these investigations were performed without directly measuring vital tissue oxygenation. The authors tested the hypothesis that a small-volume bolus of HBOC-201 would improve and sustain brain tissue oxygen tension (PbrO(2)) without adverse effects on cardiovascular end-points, when used in an acute out-of-hospital hemorrhage model. ⋯ Small-volume resuscitation with HBOC-201 rapidly restored hemodynamic parameters and PbrO(2) following severe hemorrhage without detrimental vasoactive effects and without compromise to directly monitored brain tissue oxygenation. The results of this preliminary study demonstrate that HBOC-201 could potentially improve current resuscitation measures and that further investigations with HBOC-201 are warranted.