Cardiovascular monitoring tools: use and misuse.

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review important areas of current and novel hemodynamic monitoring practice in the intensive care unit and to highlight potential areas of physiologic and clinical use or misuse, as well as areas of uncertainty and ongoing controversy. RECENT FINDINGS: To truly determine when hemodynamic monitoring tools are misused would require randomized controlled evidence of a measurable improvement in relevant clinical (as opposed to physiologic) outcomes. Unfortunately, little evidence of this kind exists, and that which does exist is highly controversial in nature. Because of the limited evidence of an effect of hemodynamic monitoring on clinical outcomes, the use and misuse of ..