Analog Values from Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring

Abstract

The everyday practice of present day intensivists includes the monitoring and interpretation of an ever growing number of hemodynamic, as well as other, variables. A daily ICU flow sheet includes hundreds of numbers from various measuring devices. These numbers are used in the continuous decision making process that characterizes ICU clinical work. With the introduction of computerized patient data management systems, these numbers, being acquired and recorded automatically, achieve an even greater importance than before. We have all been trained to acquire, interpret and rely on these numbers. We should, however, be asking ourselves whether these numbers are accurate, what do they really mean, and is there additional information in our monitoring devices that we are prone to miss because it is not readily available in digital format?