Rob Mac Sweeney vs Paul Marik – Predicting Fluid Responsiveness is a Waste of Time
Summary by: Roger Harris
Rob MacSweeney and Paul Marik debate whether the assessment of fluid responsiveness in the resuscitation of patients with shock a waste of time? Both Marik and MacSweeney agree that many of the traditional methods of assessing patients volume status are flawed and of no value. Marik goes on to argue that the only clinically meaningful outcome that we should measure in response to a fluid challenge is Stoke Volume. In at least 50% of patients there is no improvement in stroke volume and further treatment with fluid boluses will only likely cause harm. Marik goes on to argue that we must know where our patients are position on their Frank-Starling curve to predict whether they are fluid responsive and we can assess this with passive led raise.
