Advances in protocolising management of high risk surgical patients
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Correspondence: E David Bennett ebennett4@mac.com
St George's Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London SW17 0QT, UK
Critical Care 2006, 10:124 doi:10.1186/cc4848
Published: 20 February 2006Abstract
Despite studies clearly demonstrating significant benefit from increasing oxygen delivery in the peri-operative period in high risk surgical patients, the technique has not been widely accepted. This is due to a variety of reasons, including non-availability of beds, particularly in the pre-operative period, and the requirement of inserting a pulmonary artery catheter. There are now data that suggest that increasing oxygen delivery post-operatively using a nurse-led protocol based on pulse contour analysis leads to a major improvement in outcome with reduction in infection rate and length of hospital stay.