Sucrose space determinations in thermally injured animals; evaluation with use of the lymphatic cannulation technique.

Abstract

Numerous studies of the profound fluid and electrolyte shifts following thermal injury have been carried out in order to determine the direction and magnitude of these changes. A better method of fluid therapy for extensively burned patients would follow a more thorough understanding of the basic physiologic changes following thermal injury. Measurement of deuterium oxide is an accurate and fairly simple method for determining total body water.¹There is no simple procedure, however, which is universally accepted to measure extracellular fluid content, although many ions and substances have been utilized.* This circumstance is most unfortunate, because not only are extracellular fluid compartment measurements important in themselves but intracellular water content is determined by subtracting the extracellular fluid content from the total body water. In 1952, Young and Raisz⁶reported an anthrone procedure for determination of inulin in biologic fluids. This was extended to include sucrose, which has a