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Updated: Jun 22, 2026
Developing a Clinically Relevant Hemorrhagic Shock Model in Rats
Published on: March 22, 2024
Ketamine delays mortality in an experimental model of hemorrhagic shock and subsequent sepsis
Gad Shaked1, George Grinberg, Yuval Sufaro
1Department of General Surgery and Trauma Unit, Soroka Medical Centre and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Background:
In previous studies ketamine was reported to improve survival and decrease serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentration after sepsis alone and after burn injury followed by sepsis. The aim of this study was to determine whether ketamine alters survival and/or IL-6 after hemorrhagic shock alone or hemorrhagic shock followed by sepsis.
Materials And Methods:
Rats were subjected to hemorrhagic shock with or without subsequent Gram-negative bacterial sepsis and were either treated with ketamine 5 mg/kg or were not treated. Blood was sampled for IL-6 determination prior to hemorrhage, at the completion of resuscitation, and at 6 and 30 h later. Mortality was recorded for 7 days following hemorrhage or hemorrhage+sepsis.
Results:
After hemorrhage+sepsis the time to median mortality was significantly later in the ketamine-treated group (36 h) than in the control group (12 h). At 12h the survival rate of the ketamine-treated group (100%) was significantly higher than in the control group (55%). There were no significant differences between groups with respect to IL-6 or 7-day survival after either hemorrhage+sepsis or hemorrhage alone.
Conclusion:
Ketamine improved 12h survival and delayed mortality after hemorrhage+sepsis without significantly altering IL-6, and did not alter survival or IL-6 after hemorrhage alone.
