ABSTRACT
Fluid administration is central to the resuscitation of the trauma patient, and fluid therapy is one of the easiest and most widely applied of all the treatments for hemorrhage. The value of fluid administration was established in the early 1900s (1) and has been a common treatment for hemorrhage ever since. Despite this history-or, perhaps, because of it-minimal scientific data supporting the common standard of care in fluid administration has been producedno data on how much, what kind, how quickly, or for how long. Indeed, controlled trials in the past decade have sparked significant controversy in this area, forcing anesthesiologists and surgeons to rethink much of what was once taken for granted. This chapter explores the latest data from laboratory and clinical trials of fluid resuscitation and suggests a strategy for the care of hemorrhaging trauma victims.
