Corticosteroid therapy in traumatic shock

The effects of pharmacological doses of methylprednisolone (10 mg/kg intravenously, in three spaced doses) were studied in a series of twenty-nine patients with multiple blunt injuries. The following hormonal effects of the corticosteroid therapy were observed: sodium retention, eosinophil depression, hyperglycaemia and increase in blood urea nitrogen. There was no clear-cut evidence of improved microcirculatory perfusion, or of any decrease in enzyme release indicating membrane stabilization.