Medicina intensiva
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Hemodynamic monitoring is a key element in the care of the critical patients, providing an unquestionable aid in the attendance to diagnosis and the choice of the adequate treatment. Minimally invasive devices have been emerging over the past few years as an effective alternative to classic monitoring tools. The esophageal echoDoppler is among these. ⋯ Although several studies have demonstrated the usefulness of the esophageal Doppler in the surgical scene, there is scarce and dispersed evidence in the literature on its benefits in critical patients. Nevertheless, its advantages make it an attractive element to take into account within the diagnostic arsenal in the intensive care. The purpose of the following article is to describe how it works, its degree of validation with other monitoring methods and the role of esophageal echoDoppler as a minimally invasive monitoring tool for measuring cardiac output in the daily clinical practice, contributing with our own experience in the critical patient.