shock

shock, in physiology, failure of the circulatory system to supply sufficient blood to peripheral tissues to meet basic metabolic requirements for oxygen and nutrients and the incomplete removal of metabolic wastes from the affected tissues. Shock is usually caused by hemorrhage or overwhelming infection and is characterized in most cases by a weak, rapid pulse; low blood pressure; and cold, sweaty skin. Depending on the cause, however, some or all of these symptoms may be missing in individual cases.

A brief treatment of shock follows. For further discussion, see cardiovascular disease: Physiological shock.

Britannica Quiz

44 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Health and Medicine Quizzes

Shock may result from a variety of physiological mechanisms, including sudden reductions in the total blood volume through acute blood losses, as in severe hemorrhage; sudden reductions in cardiac output, as in myocardial infarction (heart attack); and widespread dilation of the blood vessels, as in some forms of infection. Whatever the central physiological mechanism, the effect of shock is to reduce blood flow through the small vessels, or capillaries, where oxygen and nutrients pass into the tissues and wastes are collected for removal.

Shock is usually classified on the basis of its presumed cause, although in many cases the true cause of the peripheral circulatory insufficiency may not be apparent. The most common cause of shock is massive loss of blood, either through trauma or through surgery. In the latter case, the blood loss can be anticipated and shock prevented by providing blood transfusions during and after the operation. An acute loss of blood reduces the amount of venous blood returning to the heart, in turn reducing the cardiac output and causing a drop in arterial blood pressure. Pressure receptors, or baroreceptors, in the walls of the aorta and carotid arteries trigger physiological reflexes to protect the central circulation, increasing heart rate to boost cardiac output and constricting small blood vessels to direct blood flow to essential organs. If the blood losses continue, even these mechanisms fail, producing a sharp drop in blood pressure and overt manifestations of shock. Loss of blood plasma in burns or dehydration can also lower blood volume sufficiently to induce shock.

The heart’s output can also be reduced sufficiently to produce shock without blood loss. In coronary thrombosis, the supply of blood to the heart muscle through the coronary artery is interrupted by a blood clot or vascular constriction; the damaged muscle may then lack strength to force a normal volume out of the heart with each stroke. Again, the diminished output triggers the baroreceptors in the arteries to restrict peripheral circulation. Blood clots that block the circulation of blood to the lungs (pulmonary emboli) or increase the fluid that surrounds and cushions the heart (cardiac tamponade) can also impair the pumping of the heart sufficiently to cause shock.

The most common cause of shock by dilation of the blood vessels is massive bacterial infection, which may be further exacerbated by reductions in total blood volume caused by fluid losses secondary to the infection. Generally, toxins produced by the bacteria are the cause of the dilation. Foreign substances in the bloodstream can also produce a form of shock, called anaphylactic shock, through allergic reactions causing blood vessels to dilate. Another possible cause of shock through vascular dilation is drugs; many anesthetic drugs create a controlled shock that must be carefully monitored by adjusting dosage, and overdoses of several such drugs, including barbiturates and narcotics, produce shock symptoms.

The chief problem in treating shock is to recognize the cause of the physiological problem, as several possible causes may coexist in a single patient, especially following an accident. Failure to distinguish between shock caused by inadequate cardiac output and that caused by fluid losses reducing blood volume can result in a therapeutic dilemma, since treatments that are effective for one kind of shock will aggravate the other. Intravenous fluids are the usual treatment for shock caused by loss of blood, but adding extra fluid to the circulation can overload a damaged heart that already has a reduced output, so that the shock deepens. When the cause of shock is unclear, physicians may make a trial using intravenous fluids; if the central venous pressure rises, indicating diminished cardiac capacity, the fluids are stopped before the heart can be further compromised. Shock secondary to bacterial infection may be treated by combined fluid replacement and appropriate antibiotics, while anaphylactic shock is combated with epinephrine and antihistamines, which counter the acute allergic response.