Abstract
IntroductionRecent clinical studies have shown a relationship between abnormalities in peripheral perfusion and unfavorable outcome in patients with circulatory shock. Nitroglycerin is effective in restoring alterations in microcirculatory blood flow. The aim of this study was to investigate whether nitroglycerin could correct the parameters of abnormal peripheral circulation in resuscitated circulatory shock patients.MethodsThis interventional study recruited patients who had circulatory shock and who persisted with abnormal peripheral perfusion despite normalization of global hemodynamic parameters. Nitroglycerin started at 2 mg/hour and doubled stepwise (4, 8, and 16 mg/hour) each 15 minutes until an improvement in peripheral perfusion was observed. Peripheral circulation parameters included capillary refill time (CRT), skin-temperature gradient (Tskin-diff), perfusion index (PI), and tissue oxygen saturation (StO2) during a reactive hyperemia test (RincStO2). Measurements were performed before, at the maximum dose, and after cessation of nitroglycerin infusion. Data were analyzed by using linear model for repeated measurements and are presented as mean (standard error).ResultsOf the 15 patients included, four patients (27%) responded with an initial nitroglycerin dose of 2 mg/hour. In all patients, nitroglycerin infusion resulted in significant changes in CRT, Tskin-diff, and PI toward normal at the maximum dose of nitroglycerin: from 9.4 (0.6) seconds to 4.8 (0.3) seconds (P <0.05), from 3.3°C (0.7°C) to 0.7°C (0.6°C) (P <0.05), and from [log] -0.5% (0.2%) to 0.7% (0.1%) (P <0.05), respectively. Similar changes in StO2 and RincStO2 were observed: from 75% (3.4%) to 84% (2.7%) (P <0.05) and 1.9%/second (0.08%/second) to 2.8%/second (0.05%/second) (P <0.05), respectively. The magnitude of changes in StO2 was more pronounced for StO2 of less than 75%: 11% versus 4%, respectively (P <0.05).ConclusionsDose-dependent infusion of nitroglycerin reverted abnormal peripheral perfusion and poor tissue oxygenation in patients following circulatory shock resuscitation. Individual requirements of nitroglycerin dose to improve peripheral circulation vary between patients. A simple and fast physical examination of peripheral circulation at the bedside can be used to titrate nitroglycerin infusion.
Highlights
Recent clinical studies have shown a relationship between abnormalities in peripheral perfusion and unfavorable outcome in patients with circulatory shock
Patients were eligible for inclusion if, after 6 hours of intensive care unit (ICU) admission and continuous resuscitation and stabilization, abnormal peripheral perfusion was still present despite normalization of global hemodynamic parameters
We have demonstrated that intravenous infusion of nitroglycerin improves peripheral perfusion and oxygenation in Perfusion index, percentage
Summary
Recent clinical studies have shown a relationship between abnormalities in peripheral perfusion and unfavorable outcome in patients with circulatory shock. Recent observations have demonstrated a significant association between the persistence of abnormalities in peripheral circulation, measured in skin, muscle, or sublingual mucosa, with more severe organ dysfunction and worse prognosis when compared with traditional global variables of resuscitation [13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21] These abnormalities in peripheral perfusion predict unfavorable outcome in critically ill patients, it still needs to be proven that these abnormalities can be treated and result in improved morbidity or mortality or both. That these fundamental questions ideally be answered before the introduction of a new monitoring parameter in clinical practice [22]
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