Figure 1: Mechanisms of Shock.

Patients after cardiac surgery can suffer from low cardiac preload (e.g. bleeding or tamponade) or pump failure (e.g. myocardial stunning, infarction or mechanical complication), which can lead to hypovolemic, obstructive and/or cardiogenic shock. In addition, damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) from injured tissue and pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) in case of an infection activate the inflammatory cascade. If untreated, this condition deteriorates into a vicious cycle, resulting in distributive shock, multiple organ failure (MOF) and death.