| Hemorrhagic shock is a condition characterized by a significant loss of blood to the point that organ systems are being hypoperfused and starved of oxygen. Those oxygen-deprived organ systems then begin to fail to function normally, the effect of which can be detrimental to the survival of the episode. Several conditions cause bleeding so severe that it can lead to hemorrhagic shock, including esophageal varices, upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding, and aortic dissections. For the auspices of this article, we will be examining hemorrhagic shock through the lens of hemorrhage secondary to a traumatic mechanism of injury, which is blunt or penetrating trauma that causes catastrophic disruption to a vascular structure (e.g., organ or vessel). [1] | |
