The new generation gelatins. A review of their history, manufacture and properties.

Gelatin solutions of various kinds have been used as intravenous infusions since the First World War and belong to a heterogeneous group of fluids which tend to maintain the colloid osmotic pressure. They are produced by the breakdown of bovine collagen to yield solutions with a range of molecular weights. Anaphylactoid reactions are a rare but well-recognised complication of their use. The solutions help to fill a hiatus that exists between crystalloids and blood products.