Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine
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Semin Respir Crit Care Med · Oct 2021
Optimizing Fluid Resuscitation and Preventing Fluid Overload in Patients with Septic Shock.
Intravenous fluid administration remains an important component in the care of patients with septic shock. A common error in the treatment of septic shock is the use of excessive fluid in an effort to overcome both hypovolemia and vasoplegia. While fluids are necessary to help correct the intravascular depletion, vasopressors should be concomitantly administered to address vasoplegia. ⋯ Dynamic indices, often involving the interaction between the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, appear to be superior to traditional static indices such as central venous pressure for assessing fluid responsiveness. Point-of-care ultrasound offers the bedside clinician a multitude of applications which are useful in determining fluid administration in septic shock. In summary, prevention of fluid overload in septic shock patients is extremely important, and requires the careful attention of the entire critical care team.