Critical Care

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Commentary

Perioperative optimization and right heart catheterization: what technique in which patient?

Daniel De Backer1*, Jacques Creteur2 and Jean-Louis Vincent3

Author Affiliations

1 Staff Physician, Department of Intensive Care, Erasme University Hospital, University of Brussels, Belgium

2 Staff Physician, Department of Intensive Care, Erasme University Hospital, University of Brussels, Belgium

3 Head, Department of Intensive Care, Erasme University Hospital, University of Brussels, Belgium

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Critical Care 2003, 7:201-202 doi:10.1186/cc2177

Published: 14 March 2003

Abstract

Recent years have seen the place of the pulmonary artery catheter in intensive care increasingly challenged, with one recent study reporting no difference in outcome in patients treated with or without a pulmonary artery catheter. However, this study has several methodological flaws and, although pulmonary artery catheterization should not be performed routinely on all patients, when used correctly by trained personnel in selected patients the pulmonary artery catheter continues to provide valuable information.

Keywords:
methodology; outcome; pulmonary artery catheter; SvO2