Clinical benefits of arterial pressure variation monitoring

Back to Clinical View Home Page

Download Resource

Positive pressure ventilation causes blood pressure changes in the chest cavity: inspiratory phase increases the pressure and expiratory phase decreases it. The magnitude of these changes depends on the patient’s fluid status. The arterial pressure variation algorithm in GE monitors can be used to assess fluid responsiveness continuously, without extra procedures.

The algorithm analyzes the acquired invasive arterial blood pressure signal and therefore does not require any further equipment besides the invasive blood pressure measurement kit.

Monitoring of arterial pressure variation helps answer a common questions about patients’ fluid responsiveness: Will the patient’s stroke volume and cardiac output improve with fluid resuscitation? The answer can be used to guide fluid expansion therapy.

This quick guide from GE Healthcare describes the utility of arterial pressure variation monitoring as well as its limitations: it is reliable only in mechanically ventilated patients and in patients without cardiac arrhythmias.