Evaluation of different treatment protocols for combined injury-induced lung injury in rabbits

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of different treatment regimens on combined injury-induced lung injury.

Rabbits were subjected to non-lethal closed-chest bilateral lung contusion followed by a 30% total body surface area scald burn. The rabbits were randomly assigned to resuscitation groups that maintained a minimum mean arterial blood pressure of 70 mmHg using one of the following three methods: normal saline plus polygeline injection in a ratio of 1:1 (1:1G), normal saline plus polygeline injection in a ratio of 1:2 (1:2G), and normal saline plus polygeline injection in a ratio of 1:3 (1:3G), After injury, lung injury was assessed using lung wet-to-dry (W/D) weight ratio, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and real-time PCR.

In the 1:3 fluid resuscitation group, rabbits exhibited significantly reduced lung W/D ratio, alveolar hemorrhage, myeloperoxidase activity, and IL-8 and TNF-α levels in the serum compared with the 1:1 or 1:2 fluid resuscitation groups. The 1:3 fluid resuscitation-treated rabbits also attenuated ultrastructural changes in the lung 24 h after the combined injury.

This study demonstrated the impact of fluid resuscitation on combined injury-induced lung injury. Further, 1:3 fluid resuscitation treatment at the early stage of lung injury after combined lung contusion and burn injury was found to be more effective.