Articles: splanchnic-circulation-physiology.
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Anaesthesiol Reanim · Jan 2001
Comparative Study[Hemodynamic monitoring of splanchnic circulation--does the benefit outweight risk of of regional circulation monitoring?].
Over the last 20 years there has been increasing interest in the pivotal role of the splanchnic region in the development of SIRS, sepsis and multiple organ failure. One key question is how to monitor and detect in good time regional splanchnic perfusion, oxygenation and impaired function of liver and gut, so as to start appropriate therapeutic measures. This review describes the pathophysiological background of impaired splanchnic perfusion. ⋯ Despite all the restrictions and the criticism which can be levelled at this method, it remains the only way of monitoring splanchnic perfusion and oxygenation that is currently applicable in clinical routine. The data gained can be useful if clinicians are aware of the weak points of tonometry and consider the data in the overall clinical picture. When this is done, the patient can profit from gastric tonometry and the benefits outweigh the risks.
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For supportive therapy in sepsis adequate volume loading is probably the first, and possibly the most important step in the treatment of patients with septic shock. An elevated global O2-supply (DO2) may be necessary and beneficial in most of these patients, but the increase in DO2 should be guided by measurement of parameters assessing global and regional oxygenation. Routine strategies for elevating DO2 by the use of very high dosages of catecholamines cannot be recommended. ⋯ Dopexamine has been suggested for improvement of splanchnic perfusion, but since these effects remain somewhat controversial there are no current grounds for a general recommendation in favour of dopexamine in septic patients. These recommendations are currently limited by the lack of sufficient outcome studies and studies evaluating regional perfusion. Until the various catecholamine regimes are more fully examined, recommendations for catecholamine support in sepsis must be considered "conditional".
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Critical care medicine · Nov 2000
Jejunal and gastric mucosal perfusion versus splanchnic blood flow and metabolism: an observational study on postcardiac surgical patients.
To evaluate the association between changes in total splanchnic and mucosal perfusion, assessed either by gastric tonometry or jejunal laser Doppler flowmetry in postcardiac surgical patients. ⋯ In this observational study on postcardiac surgical patients, local mucosal perfusion did not reflect total splanchnic blood flow and vice versa. Either changes in gastric and jejunal mucosal perfusion were different or increasing tissue metabolism was responsible for the observed lack of association between tonometry, laser Doppler flowmetry, and total splanchnic blood flow. Increasing mucosal arterial PCO2 gradient and splanchnic oxygen extraction may reflect a mismatch between splanchnic perfusion and metabolic demands.
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Restoration of oxygen delivery, especially to the splanchnic bed, is of critical importance during trauma resuscitation. Acute normovolemic hemodilution (ANH) has been used to reduce blood transfusion requirement during elective surgery. The effect of hemodilution on the splanchnic circulation during hemorrhagic shock (HS) is not well defined. ⋯ As long as an adequate intravascular volume is maintained, hemodilution is well tolerated by the gut after HS. Concern about the adequacy of gut perfusion should not be a transfusion trigger after HS.
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Gastric mucosal and arterial blood PCO2 must be known to assess mucosal perfusion by means of gastric tonometry. As end-tidal PCO2 (PE'CO2) is a function of arterial PCO2, the gradient between PE'CO2 and gastric mucosal PCO2 may reflect mucosal perfusion. We studied the agreement between two methods to monitor gut perfusion. ⋯ The bias between DPCO2gas and DPCO2sal was 0.85 kPa and precision 1.25 kPa. The disagreement between DPCO2gas and DPCO2sal increased with increasing dead space. We propose that the disagreement between the two methods studied may not be clinically important and that DPCO2gas may be a method for continuous estimation of splanchnic perfusion.