Complications Related to Transpulmonary Thermodilution in the Intensive Care Unit and the Operating Room

Transpulmonary thermodilution (TPTD) is a technique used for haemodynamic monitoring. It consists of a monitor device which is connected to two catheters. One is a catheter inserted into the superior vena cava (internal jugular or subclavian), which is a standard catheter commonly used in patients with acute circulatory failure. The other one is a thermistor-tipped arterial catheter, which is inserted through the femoral route (the tip stands in the iliac artery), which allows the measurement of blood temperature. Catheters designed for the radial, brachial and humeral arteries also exist. TPTD allows the computation of cardiac output from the thermodilution curve recorded by the thermistor-tipped femoral arterial catheter. As an advanced cardiac output monitoring technique, it provides several important haemodynamic variables. It can be used in the intensive care unit (ICU) and in the operating room (OR). Two TPTD systems are now on the market. The PiCCO2 system (Pulsion Medical Systems, member of the Getinge Group, Feldkirchen, Germany) and the VolumeView/EV1000 system (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, United States of America). This study is designed to investigate the incidence of complications and their risk factors in patients monitored by transpulmonary thermodilution.