Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
-
Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2012
ReviewReview article: Part two: Goal-directed resuscitation--which goals? Perfusion targets.
Haemodynamic targets, such as cardiac output, mean arterial blood pressure and central venous oxygen saturations, remain crude predictors of tissue perfusion and oxygen supply at a cellular level. Shocked patients may appear adequately resuscitated based on normalization of global vital signs, yet they are still experiencing occult hypoperfusion. ⋯ Current technologies available include sublingual capnometry, video microscopy of the microcirculation and near-infrared spectroscopy providing a measure of tissue oxygenation, whereas base deficit and lactate potentially provide a surrogate measure of the adequacy of global perfusion. The methodology and evidence for these technologies guiding resuscitation are considered in this narrative review.