The effects of nicotinic acid upon postburn plasma volume loss

The effects of intravenously injected nicotinic acid upon postburn plasma volume loss have been studied in the anesthetized dog. Results of this study have shown that two hours after a third degree flame burn over 40 per cent of the surface area, approximately 12 milliliters per kilogram of plasma are lost to the extravascular spaces. If untreated, this loss will increase to 16 milliliters per kilogram at four hours postburn and 19 milliliters per kilogram at six hours postburn. Treatment of the dogs with nicotinic acid beginning two and one-half hours postburn will reduce the plasma extravasation to 13 milliliters per kilogram four hours postburn and to 11 milliliters per kilogram at six hours postburn. In general, the decrease in cardiac output observed after thermal trauma paralleled the loss of plasma volume. In the untreated dogs, this decrease continued with time postburn, but in the treated dogs, the decrease in cardiac output leveled off during the first two hours after beginning treatment and started what appeared to be a slow return toward control levels in the next two hour period.