A new treatment for traumatic shock and ARDS.

Trauma causes more years of lost life than any other cause of death. Traumatic shock and sepsis are the most common late causes of death following trauma. Traumatic shock and sepsis cause multiple organ failure. The most common organ to fail is the lung, which develops Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). ARDS can be caused by Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) with microscopic clots in the lungs. Trauma causes hemolysis and the red cell stroma may initiate DIC. Plasminogen activators, which causes lysis of blood clot, can lyse pulmonary microthrombi and prevent the onset of ARDS even when given several hours after the trauma.