Cardiovascular response to blood loss during high intracranial pressure

Abstract

✓ The authors hypothesized that the combination of hemorrhage and increased intracranial pressure (ICP) has deleterious effects on cardiovascular function. The effect of blood loss during normal and increased ICP was studied in eight pigs. The mean arterial pressure (MAP), pulmonary arterial pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, cardiac output, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure were measured. The regional tissue blood flow was determined with radioactive microspheres labeled with four different nuclides. High ICP (80% of MAP) was induced by infusion of artificial CSF into the cisterna magna. The response to rapid arterial bleeding of 25% of blood volume was measured. The decrease in blood flow to the intestine, skeletal muscle, and the kidneys after blood loss was significantly greater during high ICP. The decrease in blood flow to the spleen and pancreas tended to be greater during high ICP, whereas the changes in blood flow to the liver, adrenal glands, and heart muscle showed no such tendency. The fall in cardiac output and heart stroke volume after blood loss were more pronounced when the ICP was high, and the increase in systemic vascular resistance was considerably greater. These observations suggest that during high ICP the physiological protective mechanisms against blood loss are impaired in the systemic circulation, and a loss of 25% of the blood volume, normally well compensated for, may induce a state of shock.