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BACKGROUND: Sidestream dark field (SDF) imaging has been used to demonstrate microcirculatory abnormalities in a variety of critical illnesses. The microcirculation is also affected by advancing age and chronic comorbidities. However, the effect of these conditions on SDF microcirculatory parameters has not been well described. METHODS: SDF images were obtained from five groups of 20 participants: healthy volunteers under the age of 25, healthy volunteers over the age of 55, and clinic patients over the age of 55 with one of diabetes mellitus, cirrhosis and stage 5 chronic kidney disease. Microcirculatory parameters between the groups were then compared for significance using analysis of variance for parametric and the Kruskal-Wallis test for non-parametric data. RESULTS: Median microvascular flow index was 2.85 (interquartile range 2.75 to 3.0) for participants aged <25, 2.81 (2.66 to 2.97) for those aged >55, 2.88 (2.75 to 3.0) for those with diabetes mellitus, 3.0 (2.83 to 3.0) for those with cirrhosis and 3.0 (2.78 to 3.0) for those with chronic kidney disease (P for difference between groups = 0.14). Similarly, there were no significant differences in the proportion of perfused vessels and perfused vessel density between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Older age, diabetes, and chronic kidney and liver disease need not be considered confounding factors for comparison of SDF microcirculatory parameters in the critically ill.
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INTRODUCTION: Post-operative outcomes may be improved by the use of flow related end-points for intra-venous fluid and/or low dose inotropic therapy. The mechanisms underlying this benefit remain uncertain. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of stroke volume guided intra-venous fluid and low dose dopexamine on tissue microvascular flow and oxygenation and inflammatory markers in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. METHODS: Randomised, controlled, single blind study of patients admitted to a university hospital critical care unit following major gastrointestinal surgery. For eight hours after surgery, intra-venous fluid therapy was guided by measurements of central venous pressure (CVP group), or stroke volume (SV group). In a third group stroke volume guided fluid therapy was combined with dopexamine (0.5 mcg/kg/min) (SV & DPX group). RESULTS: 135 patients were recruited (n = 45 per group). In the SV & DPX group, increased global oxygen delivery was associated with improved sublingual (P < 0.05) and cutaneous microvascular flow (P < 0.005) (sublingual microscopy and laser Doppler flowmetry). Microvascular flow remained constant in the SV group but deteriorated in the CVP group (P < 0.05). Cutaneous tissue oxygen partial pressure (PtO2) (Clark electrode) improved only in the SV & DPX group (P < 0.001). There were no differences in serum inflammatory markers. There were no differences in overall complication rates between the groups although acute kidney injury was more frequent in the CVP group (CVP group ten patients (22%); pooled SV and SV & DPX groups seven patients (8%); P = 0.03) (post hoc analysis). CONCLUSIONS: Stroke volume guided fluid and low dose inotropic therapy was associated with improved global oxygen delivery, microvascular flow and tissue oxygenation but no differences in the inflammatory response to surgery. These observations may explain improved clinical outcomes associated with this treatment in previous trials. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN 94850719.
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Procedimientos Quirúrgicos del Sistema Digestivo/métodos , Cuidados Intraoperatorios/métodos , Microcirculación/fisiología , Oxígeno/sangre , Anciano , Análisis de los Gases de la Sangre , Presión Venosa Central/fisiología , Dopamina/análogos & derivados , Dopamina/uso terapéutico , Femenino , Fluidoterapia/métodos , Hemodinámica/fisiología , Humanos , Molécula 1 de Adhesión Intercelular/sangre , Interleucina-1beta/sangre , Interleucina-6/sangre , Interleucina-8/sangre , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Presión Parcial , Método Simple Ciego , Volumen Sistólico , Factor de Necrosis Tumoral alfa/sangre , Vasodilatadores/uso terapéuticoRESUMEN
Efforts to improve survival from sepsis are focusing increasingly on intervention during the earliest stages of this disease. The importance of derangements in microvascular flow in patients with established sepsis is well recognized. However, little data are available to describe microvascular changes in early sepsis. After research ethics committee approval, observational data were collected in healthy volunteers and within 6 h of presentation in patients with sepsis and severe sepsis. Sidestream dark-field imaging was used to obtain video images of the sublingual microcirculation. Cardiac index was measured using the noninvasive suprasternal Doppler method. Forty-eight patients and 16 healthy volunteers were recruited. Twenty-eight patients were diagnosed with sepsis and 19 with severe sepsis. Eight patients (17%) did not survive to leave hospital. For small vessels (<20 microm), microvascular flow index (P < 0.05), heterogeneity index (P < 0.05) and the proportion of perfused vessels (P < 0.05) were lower in patients with sepsis and severe sepsis compared with healthy volunteers. Perfused vessel density (P < 0.05) was lower in the severe sepsis group compared with the sepsis group. The proportion of perfused vessels (P < 0.01) and MAP (P < 0.05) were lower in nonsurvivors compared with survivors. Sepsis results in derangements of microvascular flow, which can be identified in the early stages of this disease. These abnormalities are more marked in the most severely ill patients. Further research is required to fully characterize the effects of sepsis on microvascular function.