Table 1.
Examples of available methods to measure cardiac output
| Method | System | Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| Thermodilution | PAC | Invasiveness - training required |
| Transpulmonary indicator dilution | PiCCO® | Decreased accuracy? |
| Need for dedicated arterial catheter | ||
| LiDCO™ | Decreased accuracy? | |
| Need for lithium injection | ||
| Interference by non-depolarizing muscle relaxants; inaccurate in case of hyponatremia | ||
| COstatus® | Decreased accuracy? | |
| VolumeView™ | Decreased accuracy? | |
| Need for dedicated arterial catheter | ||
| Arterial-pressure waveform-derived | PiCCO®, LiDCO™, Vigileo™, MostCare™ | Decreased accuracy, need for optimal arterial pressure tracing |
| Esophageal Doppler | CardioQ™, WAKIe TO | Training required, intermittent measurement |
| Suprasternal Doppler | USCOM® | Difficult in some patients |
| Echocardiography | Vivid™, Sonosite MicroMaxx®, Philips CX50™, and so on | Training required, intermittent measurement |
| Partial CO2 rebreathing | NiCO® | Less reliable in respiratory failure |
| Bioimpedance | Lifegard®, TEBCO®, Hotman®, BioZ®, and so on | Less reliable in critically ill patients, not applicable in cardiothoracic surgery |
| Bioreactance | NICOM® | Validated in only one study in critically ill patients |
PAC, pulmonary artery catheter.