Comparison of Intraosseous and Intravenous Delivery of Hypertonic Saline/Dextran (HSD) in Anesthetized, Euvolemic Pigs

Delivery of fluids and drugs by intraosseous (IO) infusion has seen renewed use in pediatrics and has been proposed for adult use. To evaluate the efficacy of IO infusion of resuscitation fluids in adults, the present study investigates vascular entry cardiodynamic (CD) responses to Io and IV infusion of the small volume resuscitation formulation, 7.5 % NaCl/6 % Dextran-70 (HSD) in 12 anesthetized, euvolemic pigs. Using a sternal IO access device, 4 ml/kg HSD was infused over 2-6 min; each IO infusion was paired with an IV infusion of equal time. IO and IV HSD infusion produced similar CD effects and increased plasma volume over 20 % for the 2 h experimental period. Delivery of Na and dextran was essentially complete within 1 min after infusion and plasma Na and dextran concentrations were comparable over the 2 h period.