Food for Thought
› Older adults may not display classic signs of hypovolemic shock due to inadequate physical reserves (i.e., reduced alpha-a adrenergic receptor responsiveness); (Strickler, 2010)
› Controversy exists regarding the relative effectiveness of colloids versus crystalloids in the resuscitation of critically ill patients. A systematic review concluded that evidence supporting the superiority of colloids is lacking and, because crystalloids are less expensive, the use of colloids cannot be justified (Perel et al., 2007)
› Patients with extensive injuries and massive blood loss (i.e., rapid blood loss that causes circulatory failure, or loss 50% of blood volume within 3 hours, or the full blood volume in 24 hours) require massive transfusion (i.e., more than 10 units of packed red blood cells in 24 hours). These severely injured patients usually require damage control surgery to interrupt the trauma triad of death (i.e., hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy) that frequently occur after massive blood loss and hemodilution