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Assessment of volume status and fluid responsiveness in the emergency department: a systematic approach

Die Bestimmung des Volumenstatus und der Volumenreagibilität in der Notaufnahme – ein systematischer Ansatz

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Abstract

When treating acutely ill patients in the emergency department (ED), the successful management of a variety of medical conditions, such as sepsis, acute kidney injury, and pancreatitis, is highly dependent on the correct assessment and optimization of a patient’s intravascular volume status. Therefore, it is crucial that the ED physician knows and uses available means to assess intravascular volume status to adequately guide fluid therapy. This review focuses on techniques for volume status assessment that are available in the ED including basic clinical and laboratory findings, apparatus-based tests such as sonography and chest x-ray, and functional tests to evaluate fluid responsiveness. Furthermore, we provide an outlook on promising innovative, noninvasive technologies that might be used for advanced hemodynamic monitoring in the ED.

Zusammenfassung

Bei der Behandlung akut kranker Patienten in der Notaufnahme hängt die erfolgreiche Behandlung einer Reihe von Erkrankungen (z. B. Sepsis, akutes Nierenversagen, Pankreatitis) in hohem Maße von der korrekten Einschätzung und Optimierung des intravaskulären Volumenstatus des Patienten ab. Daher ist es entscheidend für eine adäquate Steuerung der Volumentherapie, dass der Notfallmediziner die verschiedenen Methoden zur Abschätzung des intravaskulären Volumenstatus kennt und zur Anwendung bringt. Dieser Übersichtsartikel behandelt Methoden zur Abschätzung des Volumenstatus, die in der Notaufnahme verfügbar sind, wie grundlegende klinische und laborchemische Untersuchungen, Ultraschall- und Röntgendiagnostik und funktionelle Tests zur Beurteilung der Volumenreagibilität. Desweiteren wird ein Ausblick gegeben auf vielversprechende, innovative, nicht-invasive Technologien, die für ein erweitertes hämodynamisches Monitoring in der Notaufnahme verwendet werden könnten.

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Abbreviations

BUN:

blood urea nitrogen

CO:

cardiac output

CTR:

cardiothoracic ratio

CVP:

central venous pressure

CXR:

chest x-ray

Eadyn :

dynamic arterial elastance

EABV:

effective arterial blood volume

ED:

emergency department

FEUN :

fractional excretion of urea

IVC:

inferior vena cava

PAOP:

pulmonary artery occlusion pressure

PLR:

passive leg raising

ROC-AUC:

area under the receiver operating characteristic curve

VPW:

vascular pedicle width

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Correspondence to B. Saugel MD.

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B. Saugel collaborates with Pulsion Medical Systems SE (Feldkirchen, Germany) as a member of the Medical Advisory Board. Saugel received honoraria for giving lectures and refunds of travel expenses from Pulsion Medical Systems SE (Feldkirchen, Germany).

Saugel received institutional research grants, unrestricted research grants, and refunds of travel expenses from Tensys Medical Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA). BS received honoraria for giving lectures and refunds of travel expenses from CNSystems Medizintechnik AG (Graz, Austria).

J.Y. Wagner received institutional research grants, unrestricted research grants, and refunds of travel expenses from Tensys Medical Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA). J.Y. Wagner received refunds of travel expenses from CNSystems Medizintechnik AG (Graz, Austria).

For C. Maurer and R.M. Schmid there is no conflict of interest to disclose.

This article does not contain studies on human or animal subjects.

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Maurer, C., Wagner, J.Y., Schmid, R.M. et al. Assessment of volume status and fluid responsiveness in the emergency department: a systematic approach. Med Klin Intensivmed Notfmed 112, 326–333 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00063-015-0124-x

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