Essential aspects during the resuscitation of intravascular volume in polytraumatized patients

Trauma is the leading cause of death in the first four decades of life, responsible for 3.5 million deaths a year and carrying a high economic and social impact. Hemorrhagic shock is the consequence of injuries in these patients. Despite extensive knowledge about its pathophysiology and many replacement drugs and therapies, resuscitation of the intravascular volume sometimes is insufficient and ineffective. Hemorrhagic shock, resulting in macro and microvascular changes that favor the development of anaerobic metabolism, is associated with multiple complications that can lead to the demise of the patient. The purpose of this article is to describe the essential aspects that should be taken into account during the resuscitation of the intravascular volume of multiple trauma patients. We conducted a search and review of the available literature on the resuscitation of trauma patients. Reference searches were conducted in the MEDLINE/PubMed, Cumed, SciELO, EBSCO, Hinari, Cochrane databases. We reviewed the historical evolution of volume replacement in the polytrauma patient, endothelial glycocalyx, changes in the Starling law paradigm, goal-guided resuscitation, the different fluids used during resuscitation, monitoring, and the concepts of damage control resuscitation and damage control surgery.