ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of a 48-year-old male who was the driver in a head-on collision between two cars travelling at 45 miles per hour. During the primary survey in the Emergency Department, it is noted that he is hypotensive and tachycardic. A decision is made to initiate fluid resuscitation. Intravenous fluids can be divided into crystalloids and colloids. Sixty percent of the human body mass is composed of water, of which two-thirds lies in the intracellular compartment and one-third lies in the extracellular compartment. The extracellular compartment is further subdivided into interstitial fluid and intravascular fluid. Although colloids provide more initial intravascular expansion, it is now accepted that there is no significant difference in reducing mortality when using crystalloids or colloids for fluid resuscitation. Further studies on fluid resuscitation of patients with traumatic brain injury have shown that colloids are associated with a higher mortality than crystalloids.
