• Nils Siegenthaler, Raphael Giraud, Till Saxer, Delphine S Courvoisier, Jacques-André Romand, and Karim Bendjelid.
• Intensive Care Unit, Department of Anaesthesiology, Pharmacology and Intensive Care, University Hospitals of Geneva, 4 Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 4 Rue Gabrielle-Perret-Gentil, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland.
• Biomed Res Int. 2014 Jan 1;2014:129593.

BackgroundThe aim of this survey was to describe, in a situation of growing availability of monitoring devices and parameters, the practices in haemodynamic monitoring at the bedside.MethodsWe conducted a Web-based survey in Swiss adult ICUs (2009-2010). The questionnaire explored the kind of monitoring used and how the fluid management was addressed.ResultsOur survey included 71% of Swiss ICUs. Echocardiography (95%), pulmonary artery catheter (PAC: 85%), and transpulmonary thermodilution (TPTD) (82%) were the most commonly used. TPTD and PAC were frequently both available, although TPTD was the preferred technique. Echocardiography was widely available (95%) but seems to be rarely performed by intensivists themselves. Guidelines for the management of fluid infusion were available in 45% of ICUs. For the prediction of fluid responsiveness, intensivists rely preferentially on dynamic indices or echocardiographic parameters, but static parameters, such as central venous pressure or pulmonary artery occlusion pressure, were still used.ConclusionsIn most Swiss ICUs, multiple haemodynamic monitoring devices are available, although TPTD is most commonly used. Despite the usefulness of echocardiography and its large availability, it is not widely performed by Swiss intensivists themselves. Regarding fluid management, several parameters are used without a clear consensus for the optimal method.

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