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shaokim t1_iy9dq7p wrote

Reply to comment by WebW3b in Eli5, how do contracted Blood Vessels lead to Increased Cardiac Preload? by WebW3b

I have it like this:

There is bleeding. At a certain point, blood pressure measured in the aortic arch and carotid body baroreceptors drops. The body compensates by triggering a release of circulating adrenaline as well as noradrenaline signaling to the sinus node. This will briefly increase contractility of the heart and heart rate, as well as induce peripheral vasoconstriction through signaling at alpha receptors.

All this would serve to compensate for blood pressure loss that goes with blood loss. So if I have that right, in this initial stage of bleeding blood pressure and venous return (preload) could be kept relatively constant by this compensation mechanism.

Over time, the bleeding overwhelms this compensation mechanism, and as intravascular volume drops, blood pressure drops and central venous pressure drops.

At no point, I think, will any of these parameters be significantly increased over baseline: blood pressure and venous return will be compensated (equal) at best, initially, before dropping.

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WebW3b OP t1_iy9fy7n wrote

You’re correct but what I was asking/confused about in the post was about your first paragraph. I had trouble understanding how the vasoconstriction increases/keepsConstant preload (before getting overwhelmed)

It’s true that preload & BP ultimately decreases due to overwhelming blood loss, I just couldn’t comprehend the first part about how the body tries to maintain/increase the initial drop before the overwhelming fall

Your reply is immensely insightful and much appreciated!!

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shaokim t1_iy9jasw wrote

This great page shows factors affecting central venous pressure.

It isn't the arterial vasoconstriction that affects preload, but venous vasoconstriction, that would also occur in the compensation by sympathetic factors (such as circulating adrenaline).

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WebW3b OP t1_iyc4fxg wrote

This proves to be very useful, Lots of Thanks!

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