Prevalence of Ventilatory Conditions for Dynamic Fluid Responsiveness Prediction in 2 Tertiary Intensive Care Units.

BACKGROUND: Dynamic parameters for fluid responsiveness obtained from heart-lung interaction during invasive mechanical ventilation require specific conditions not always present in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of these conditions in critically ill patients.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study in 2 medical-surgical ICUs. We evaluated whether it would be possible to measure dynamic indices of fluid responsiveness when fluid expansion was administered. We recorded whether the patients were in controlled invasive mechanical ventilation with tidal volume >8 mL/kg and without arrhythmias. The proportion of patients who fulfilled these conditions was recorded. A post hoc subgroup analyses by terciles of Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3 (SAPS3) were performed.

RESULTS: A total of 826 fluid challenges were undertaken in 424 patients during the study. The use of controlled mechanical ventilation with tidal volume > 8 mL/kg and without arrhythmias occurred in only 2.9% of the patients at the time of fluid challenge episodes. There was an increase in the prevalence of these conditions as the severity of the patients also increased: lower tercile of SAPS3 (0%), intermediate tercile (2%), and higher tercile (6.9%; P < .01 Pearson chi-square test).

CONCLUSIONS: Respiratory-dependent dynamic parameters for predicting fluid responsiveness in ICU may have restricted applicability in daily practice, even in more severe patients, due to low prevalence of required conditions.