Background Sodium lactate seemed to improve fluid balance and avoid fluid overload. The objective of this study was to determine if these beneficial effects can be at least partly explained by an improvement in disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)-associated renal microvascular thrombosis. Methods Ancillary work of an interventional randomized open label controlled experimental study. Fifteen female “Large White” pigs (2 months old) were challenged with intravenous infusion of E. coli endotoxin. Three groups of five animals were randomly assigned to receive different fluids: a treatment group received sodium lactate 11.2% (SL group); an isotonic control group received 0.9% NaCl (NC group); a hypertonic control group, with the same amount of osmoles and sodium than SL group, received sodium bicarbonate 8.4% (SB group). Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) markers, coagulation and inflammation parameters were measured over a 5-h period. Immediately after euthanasia, kidneys were withdrawn for histological study. Statistical analysis was performed with nonparametric tests and the Dunn correction for multiple comparisons. A p  < 0.05 was considered significant. Results The direct immunofluorescence study revealed that the percentage of capillary sections thrombosed in glomerulus were significantly lesser in SL group 5 (0–28) % compared to NC 64 (43–79) %, p  = 0.01 and SB 64 (43–79), p  = 0.03 groups. Alterations in platelet count and fibrinogen level occurred earlier and were significantly more pronounced in both control groups compared to SL group ( p  < 0.05 at 210 and 300 min). The increase in thrombin–antithrombin complexes was significantly higher in NC 754 (367–945) μg/mL; p  = 0.03 and SB 463 (249–592) μg/mL; p  = 0.03 groups than in SL group 176 (37–265) μg/mL. At the end of the experiment, creatinine clearance was significantly higher in SL group 55.46 (30.07–67.85) mL/min compared to NC group 1.52 (0.17–27.67) mL/min, p  = 0.03. Conclusions In this study, we report that sodium lactate improves DIC-associated renal microvascular thrombosis and preserves GFR. These findings could at least partly explain the better fluid balance observed with sodium lactate infusion.