Central venous and pulmonary artery catheters.

The central venous catheter is a common piece of equipment utilized in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine. Whilst traditionally, measurement of central venous pressure was used as an indicator of fluid responsiveness, the two have been shown not to correlate well. Pulmonary artery catheters, on the other hand, can be used to diagnose and classify shock. However, its many drawbacks have led to it falling out of favour outside of high-risk cardiac perioperative care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]