Fluid responsiveness is about stroke volume, and not pulse pressure Yogi: the power of Doppler fluid management and cardiovascular monitoring

Fluid infusion is one of the most common critical care interventions, yet approximately 50 % of all fluid interventions are unnecessary and potentially harmful. An improved approach to identification of fluid responsiveness is of clinical importance. Currently fluid responsiveness is most frequently identified by blood pressure (BP) measurements or a surrogate. However fluid responsiveness is simply the increase in stroke volume (SV) associated with volume expansion, and may not be reflected in BP or BP surrogates. Guyton demonstrated that BP = CO x SVR, and it is know that baroreceptor mediated autonomic nervous system regulation of SV and SVR to preserve BP may mask significant and critical changes in haemodynamics. Dr Pinsky in his recent J Clin Monit Comput Editorial evaluated the relative merits of pulse pressure variability (PPV) methods, a variant on BP measurement, for assessment of fluid responsiveness and promoted the use of physiologic challenges to augment the applicability of PPV. However this guidance is only half right. This letter reminds clinicians of the physiologic limitations of PPV as a measure of fluid responsiveness, even when combined with physiologic challenges, and recommends the replacement of BP with SV measurements. The combination of accurate Doppler measurement of SV and physiologic challenges, as Dr Pinsky recommends, is a physiologically rational and effective approach to identification of fluid responsiveness with established evidence. The direct monitoring of SV and SV changes has the potential to improve a long standing critical care and anaesthetic conundrum; when to give fluid and when to stop.