Investigation of the Relationship Between Oesophageal Doppler Assessed Increases in Cardiac Output and Microvascular Visceral Blood Flow in Healthy Volunteers

Optimizing intravascular volume and cardiac output are essential to ensure adequate organ perfusion in patients who are undergoing major surgery. To enable this cardiac output is frequently monitored during operation using a variety of techniques; one such technique is trans-oesophageal Doppler ultrasound also known as oesophageal Doppler monitoring (ODM). ODM measurement of cardiac output is a less invasive technique than many currently used methods, and has recently been recommended by NICE for adoption in clinical practice.

The matching of microvascular blood flow, cardiac output and fluid administration is advantageous for visceral organs, in marrying demands for oxygen and nutrients to their delivery. However, although there is evidence to suggest that intraoperative ODM directed fluid administration can improve outcomes in the perioperative period, reducing hospital stay and complications, there is little direct evidence that optimization of cardiac output via ODM improves the microvascular blood flow to the visceral organs which are frequently compromised by major surgical interventions. A greater appreciation of the effect of ODM guided fluid replacement on the delivery of blood and hence oxygen and nutrients to these vital organs could help with the development of more refined algorithms for fluid administration in a clinical setting in the future. In our clinical physiology laboratories we regularly employ contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) using a Phillips iU22, to visualize microvascular blood flow in healthy young and elderly men following a variety of physiological challenges. This minimally invasive ultrasound based imaging technique is ideal for gaining an insight into the effect various physiological interventions have on tissue blood flow and could be readily used to chart changes in visceral microvascular flow following ODM guided fluid optimization. Transference of this investigative approach to a clinical setting has the potential to greatly improve the care of the surgical patient requiring fluid resuscitation.

Different types of intravenous fluids are used in clinical practice. These are primarily crystalloid solutions, such as 0.9% sodium chloride ('normal' saline), or colloidal suspensions, such as gelofusine. There is good experimental evidence that the colloid gelofusine produces a greater effect on cardiac output than an equivalent volume of of saline, but it is unclear if this effect is replicated in the microvasculature.

We will test the hypotheses: (1) cardiac output and stroke volume as measured by ODM are determinants of visceral microvascular blood flow (2) visceral microvascular blood flow in elderly individuals is more closely determined by stroke volume (3) gelofusine produces a greater increase in microvascular blood flow than the same volume of normal saline.