Affiliations: Department of Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada | Faculty of Medicine Hradec Kralove, Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic | Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Pain Therapy, Red Cross Hospitals, Berlin Köpenick, Berlin, Germany | Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr. Christian Lehmann, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Professor, Departments of Anesthesia, Pharmacology, Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University, 5850 College Street, 6H Tupper Building, Halifax, NS, B3H 1X5, Canada. E-mail: chlehmann@me.com
Abstract: Macrohemodynamic targets such as mean arterial pressure, cardiac output, and mixed or central venous oxygen saturation have been used to guide treatment of patients presenting circulatory shock. However, it has been shown that despite of improvement of macrocirculatory parameters there is persisting microcirculatory dysfunction. The restoration of microvascular perfusion in order to improve oxygenation, prevent tissue hypoxia, and maintain organ function represents the main aim of hemodynamic resuscitation. Therefore, microcirculatory targets may represent the most important endpoints to optimize therapy of circulatory shock.
