Trauma and Aggressive Homeostasis Management

Three important issues concerning homeostasis in the acute care of trauma patients that are related directly to the stress response are hyperglycemia, lactic acidosis, and hypothermia. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in investigating the effects of aggressive thermal and glucose concentration and volume resuscitation on outcomes in critically ill and trauma patients. Significant reason exists to question the “conventional wisdom” relating to current approaches to restoring homeostasis in this patient population.