The aim is to achieve a systolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg in order to maintain tissue perfusion without inducing re-bleeding from recently clotted vessels. Permissive hypotension is a means of restricting fluid administration until hemorrhage is controlled while accepting a short period of suboptimal end-organ perfusion. Studies regarding permissive hypotension have yielded conflicting results and must take into account type of injury (penetrating versus blunt), the likelihood of intracranial injury, the severity of the injury, as well as proximity to a trauma center and definitive hemorrhage control.The quantity, type of fluids to be used, and endpoints of resuscitation remain topics of much study and debate. For crystalloid resuscitation, normal saline and lactated ringers are the most commonly used fluids. Normal saline has the drawback of causing a non-anion gap hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis due to the high chloride content, while lactated ringers can cause a metabolic alkalosis as lactate metabolism regenerates into bicarbonate.Recent trends in damage control resuscitation focus on "hemostatic resuscitation" which pushes for early use of blood products rather than an abundance of crystalloids in order to minimize the metabolic derangement, resuscitation-induced coagulopathy, and the hemodilution that occurs with crystalloid resuscitation. The end goal of resuscitation and the ratios of blood products remain at the center of much study and debate. A recent study has shown no significant difference in mortality at 24 hours or 30 days between ratios of 1:1:1 and 1:1:2 of plasma to platelets to packed RBCs.
However, this traditional model of trauma-induced coagulopathy may be too limited. Further studies have shown that a degree of coagulopathy begins in 25% to 56% of patients before initiation of the resuscitation. This has led to the recognition of trauma-induced coagulopathy as the sum of two distinct processes: acute coagulopathy of trauma and resuscitation-induced coagulopathy.Trauma-induced coagulopathy is acutely worsened by the presence of acidosis and hypothermia. The activity of coagulation factors, fibrinogen depletion, and platelet quantity are all adversely affected by acidosis. Hypothermia (less than 34 C) compounds coagulopathy by impairing coagulation and is an independent risk factor for death in hemorrhagic shock. Fluid loss
Hypovolemic shock results from depletion of intravascular volume, whether by extracellular fluid loss or blood loss. The body compensates with increased sympathetic tone resulting in increased heart rate, increased cardiac contractility, and peripheral vasoconstriction. The first changes in vital signs seen in hypovolemic shock include an increase in diastolic blood pressure with narrowed pulse pressure.As volume status continues to decrease, systolic blood pressure drops. As a result, oxygen delivery to vital organs is unable to meet the oxygen needs of the cells. Cells switch from aerobic metabolism to anaerobic metabolism, resulting in lactic acidosis. As sympathetic drive increases, blood flow is diverted from other organs to preserve blood flow to the heart and brain. This propagates tissue ischemia and worsens lactic acidosis. If not corrected, there will be worsening hemodynamic compromise and, eventually, death. Diagnosis
Shock index (SI) has been defined as heart rate/systolic blood pressure ; SI≥0.6 is a clinical shock.