Development of an Animal Model for Burn-Blast Combined Injury and Cardiopulmonary System Changes in the Early Shock Stage

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to establish an animal model for burn-blast combined injury research and elaborate cardiopulmonary system changes in the early shock stage. In this study, royal demolition explosive or RDX (hexagon, ring trimethylene nitramine) was used as an explosive source, and the injury conditions of the canine test subjects at various distances to the explosion (30, 50, and 70 cm) were observed by gross anatomy and pathology to determine a larger animal model of moderate blast injury. The canines were then subjected to a 35 % total body surface area (TBSA) full-thickness flame injury using napalm, which completed the development of a burn-blast combined injury model. Based on this model, the hemodynamic changes and arterial blood gas analysis after the burnblast combined injury were measured to identify the cardiopulmonary system characteristics. In this research, RDX explosion and flame injury were used to develop a severe burn-blast injury animal model that was stable, close to reality, and easily controllable. The hemodynamic and arterial blood gas changes in the canine subjects after burn-blast injury changed distinctly from the burn and blast injuries. Blood pressure and cardiac output fluctuated, and the preload was significantly reduced, whereas the afterload significantly increased. Meanwhile, the oxygen saturation (SO 2 ) decreased markedly with carbon dioxide partial pressure (PCO 2 ), and lactic acid (Lac) rose, and oxygen partial pressure (PO 2 ) reduced. These changes suggested that immediate clinical treatment is important during burn-blast injury both to stabilize cardiac function and supply blood volume and to reduce the vascular permeability, thereby preventing acute pneumonedema or other complications.

Animal Models of Burn Wound Management

“…Instead of several animal models that have been developed in early research, dog can be performed as a mature model for burn-blast combined injury studies. Hu et al have established the Beagle dogs in the development of a stabilized, controllable, and repeatable animal model that can mimic the actual site of the burn-blast combined injury using explosion and napalm burns [52]. The hemodynamic changes in the early shock stage of burn were successfully investigated in this model, and it also can be used as a good research platform on the mechanisms of fluid resuscitation during burn-blast combined injury shock.…”