Current practice of hemodynamic monitoring with PiCCO in a single general surgical ICU in a university hospital - a short report.

Background: In recent years, there has been an overall trend toward using less invasive hemodynamic monitoring in surgical intensive care units. The pulse contour cardiac output monitor (PiCCO) is one of them. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate our practice of hemodynamic monitoring with PiCCO in the perioperative period. Methods: A retrospective descriptive analysis was performed in a single general surgical intensive care unit (ICU) run by anesthesiologists for the years 2013-2016. We collected information about patients, ICU quality parameters and monitoring equipment available in the ICU. The primary endpoint was the incidence of PiCCO use. Results: Out of 2972 patients admitted to the general surgical ICU in a 4-year period, besides basic monitoring with electrocardiography (ECG), pulse oximetry and blood pressure monitoring, more than half of the patients received central venous catheterization (55.1%), less than the half invasive arterial catheterization (44.1 %) and only a small proportion PiCCO (0.91%). No patient received a pulmonary arterial catheter. Mortality rate was 7.47 %. Conclusion: The use of PiCCO in our ICU is far below reported in literature. In the majority of cases, our anesthesiologists make clinical decisions based on measurement of central venous and invasive arterial pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]