Effects of positive end-expiratory pressure on hemodynamics and indocyanine green kinetics in patients after orthotopic liver transplantation.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the impact of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) ventilation on hemodynamics and a clinical test for assessment of dynamic liver performance in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).


METHODS
Prospective, descriptive patient study.


METHODS
University hospital intensive care unit.


METHODS
A total of 25 patients after OLT.


METHODS
All patients were intubated and mechanically ventilated with biphasic positive airway pressure. The effects of three different randomly chosen levels of PEEP (0 cm H2O, 5 cm H2O, and 10 cm H2O) were studied in the immediate postoperative period.


RESULTS
Systemic hemodynamics, arterial and venous blood gas analyses, and plasma disappearance rate of indocyanine green (ICG(PDR)), using the transpulmonary indicator dilution technique, were obtained simultaneously. For data evaluation, patients were grouped retrospectively according to their hemodynamic response to PEEP (Group A and Group B). In Group A (n = 13), PEEP did not alter cardiac index. In Group B (n = 11), PEEP levels of 5 cm H2O and 10 cm H2O significantly reduced cardiac index and oxygen delivery. ICG(PDR) remained statistically unchanged in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Short-term pressure-controlled ventilation with PEEP levels of up to 10 cm H2O does not exert detrimental effects on systemic hemodynamics in OLT patients and does not interfere with ICG(PDR). However, it remains to be determined whether these findings could be confirmed under the application of higher PEEP levels over a longer period of time and whether they could be of clinical relevance for the use of indocyanine green as a dynamic liver function test.
Krenn
C G
CG
Department of Anesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine, the University of Vienna, Austria.
Krafft
P
P
Schaefer
B
B
Pokorny
H
H
Schneider
B
B
Pinsky
M R
MR
Steltzer
H
H
D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007208:Indocyanine Green / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011175:Positive-Pressure Respiration; D011446:Prospective Studies
D004396:Coloring Agents; D007208:Indocyanine Green