Because of their therapeutic safety, hydroxyethylstarch, gelatin and dextrans are among the most frequently used drugs in the world. Recent studies have shown that bleeding disorders, anaphylactic reactions and storage in the body depend decisively on the nature of the administered plasma substitute. Through interdisciplinary cooperation the "First European Volume Replacement Conference" has established indications for the use of individual plasma substitutes to improve the efficacy and therapeutic safety of volume replacement therapy.

1 Albumin: To Use or Not to Use? Contemporary Alternatives?

2 Use of Gelatines as Volume Expanders in Shock and Trauma
3 Which Hydroxyethyl Starch for Which Indication?
4 Volume Replacement Therapy with Dextrans: Dextrans Still Useful in Volume Replacement?
5 Volume Replacement in the Critically Ill
6 Bleeding Complications and Hydroxyethyl Starch: Strategies of Prevention
7 Volume Replacement in Burn Patients
8 Use of Plasma Substitutes During Cardiac Surgery: Focus on Priming Solutions
9 Adverse Renal Effects of Colloidal Solutions
10 New Therapeutic Concepts Using Oxygen Carriers.