[Shock: a review. II: Treatment].

In Part II of this review, recent aspects in shock therapy are discussed. Treatment of an animal in a state of shock is not an easy task, it is time-consuming and expensive. The basic aims of shock therapy are to remove the inciting cause (wherever possible), to increase the circulating blood volume in order to stimulate the cardiac output and tissue perfusion (by infusion of fluids and eventually vasoactive substances), and to reduce or correct the injurious effects of shock (oxygenation, corticosteroids, antibiotics, energy or substrates, vasoactive substances, diuretics, regulation of the acid-base balance, stimulation of RES, and treatment of DIC).