What is Hypovolemic shock? It is a life-threatening condition that results when you lose more than 15% of your body’s blood or fluid supply and your heart function is impaired. It can occur due to any type of fluid loss, for example, as a result of dehydration or diarrhea. Severe fluid loss makes it difficult for the heart to pump enough blood to your body. As the fluid loss increases, hypovolemic shock can lead to organ failure. This requires immediate emergency medical attention.
The symptoms of hypovolemic shock vary with the severity of the fluid loss. However, all symptoms of shock are life-threatening and need emergency medical treatment. The general symptoms include thirst, muscle cramps, and decrease in blood pressure, or poor blood supply throughout the body. You may experience pain in your abdomen or your chest. You may also experience some neurological symptoms like confusion, agitation, or lethargy (drowsiness), which occur due to decreased blood flow to the brain. Older adults are highly susceptible to shock, and children may not show symptoms of shock until they reach a more severe stage.
Hypovolemic shock results from significant and sudden blood or fluid losses within your body. In addition to actual blood loss, the loss of body fluids can cause a decrease in blood volume. Different causes of hypovolemic shock include excessive or prolonged diarrhea, severe burns, protracted vomiting, excessive sweating, bleeding from serious cuts or wounds, bleeding from blunt traumatic injuries due to accidents, internal bleeding from abdominal organs or ruptured ectopic pregnancy, and significant vaginal bleeding
Blood carries oxygen and other essential substances to your organs and tissues. When heavy bleeding or fluid loss occurs, there’s not enough blood in circulation for the heart to be an effective pump. This is hypovolemic shock. As you lose more fluid, you no longer have enough blood to effectively supply oxygen to your tissues. To make up for this, your body sends the remaining blood supply to the most important organs: the brain and the heart. APA