are of the patient with hypotension due to acute blood loss requires control of bleeding and subsequent expansion of blood volume to assure adequate oxygen delivery. The use of hypertonic/hyperoncotic solutions has provided a means of early intervention that is safe and appears to be of benefit. These solutions are also finding use in intraoperative settings that require volume expansion or replacement.Hypertonic/hyperoncotic solutions are a class of solutions formulated to move fluid from the extravascular space into the vascular space down an osmotic gradient. This is usually achieved by the use of hypertonic saline at 7.5% at an osmolality of 2,400 mOsm/kg H2O. When infused these solutions increase plasma osmolality by about 10 to 15 mOsm/kg H2O and plasma sodium concentration by 10 to 12 mmol. 1 The addition of hyperoncotics to the solutions allows extended maintenance of the volume within the vascular space.The advantage of these solutions is the ability to administer a small volume of solution with a resultant greater expansion of blood volume. They also increase cardiac output and improve oxygen delivery. For a given type of solution, the extent and duration of volume can be calculated. Using volume kinetics, Hahn and coworkers 2-5 were able to model the distribution between various fluid compartments within the body, thereby allowing an accurate assessment of the magnitude of volume expansion and the rate of disappearance of a solution. For isotonic solutions, the infusion of one milliliter results in the expansion of blood volume by about 0.2 mL. The use of an oncotic solution produces an expansion of 0.6 mL per mL administered. Hypertonic/hyperoncotic (Dextran 70) solutions result in an expansion of 1.4 to 2.5 mL per mL administered. Furthermore, the expansion using hypertonic/hyperoncotic solutions is sustained for a longer period. The amount of volume expansion may be greater in the presence of hypovolemia or hypotension.