In Vitro Study Of The Effect Of Hypothermia On The Dissociation Curve Of Blood

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the change in the dissociation curve of oxygen from human hemoglobin at the temperatures of 37°, 25°, 18°, 12°, 7°, and 3° C. The partial pressures of oxygen and the calculated hemoglobin saturations were determined for samples at the various temperatures. From this data the partial pressures at 75% saturation were calculated, and the differences in the partial pressures at 75% saturation were compared. The dissociation curve was shown to shift to the left as the temperature was decreased down to 12°. Below 12°, the shift was not further observed. At the lower temperatures, the oxygen did not dissociate as well as it did at the higher temperatures.