Benefit of echocardiography for hemodynamic monitoring and identification of volume therapy responders in intensive care

Abstract

Echocardiographic methods may help the intensivist to determine the need for fluid infusion in patients with hemodynamic failure. Very low static parameters are usually associated with fluid responsiveness. But these static parameters fail to predict a positive response in patients with suspected hypovolemia. Dynamic parameters should, therefore, be preferred. The intensivist may use respiratory variation of the inferior vena cava, aortic blood flow, or stroke volume determined by echocardiography and changes in stroke volume or aortic velocity time integral following the provocation maneuver (passive leg-raising or volume challenge test) to identify volume responsiveness.