In tests, they reduced the body temperature
of injured pigs from 37C to 10C before operating on them and then reviving
them.
Now they are applying for permission to test
the procedure on casualty patients without a pulse who have lost large amounts
of blood, New Scientist magazine reported.
It is thought this method and others could
one day be used on car crash and gunshot victims, as well as in the battlefield
to treat wounded soldiers.
A surgeon at
First he anaesthetises the animal, then cuts
a major vein and artery in its abdomen to simulate multiple gunshots to a
person's chest and abdomen.
As the pig rapidly loses about half its blood
and enters a state of shock, Dr Alam drains its blood and stores it before
pumping chilled organ preservation fluid into its system.
The animal's body temperature falls to about
10C until it is in a state of "profound hypothermia" and has no
pulse and no electrical activity in its
brain.
But after the blood stored earlier is warmed
and pumped back into the pig's body its heart starts beating again and it comes
back to life.
"It is still pretty awe-inspiring,"
Dr Alam said. "Once the heart starts beating and the blood starts pumping,
voila, you've got another animal that's come back from the other side.
"Technically, I think we can do it in
humans."
He now wants automatic consent to use the
technique on all patients brought to his hospital who have lost blood and would
probably die with only standard care.
Other
