title: Complications associated with pulmonary artery catheters: a comprehensive clinical review.
abstract: Care for the critically ill patient requires maintenance of adequate tissue perfusion/oxygenation. Continuous hemodynamic monitoring is frequently utilized to achieve these objectives. Pulmonary artery catheters (PAC) allow measurement of hemodynamic variables that cannot be measured reliably or continuously by less invasive means. Inherent to every medical intervention are risks associated with that intervention. This review categorizes complications associated with the PAC into four broad groups--complications of central venous access; complications related to PAC insertion and manipulation; complications associated with short- or long-term presence of the PAC in the cardiovascular system; and errors resulting from incorrect interpretation/use of PAC-derived data. We will discuss each of these four broad categories, followed by in-depth descriptions of the most common and most serious individual complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Critical Care, Trauma, and Burn, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Doraiswamy
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Prosciak
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silviera
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Seamon
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rodriguez Funes
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cipolla
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kavuturu
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Torigian
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Lindsey
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Steinberg
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Stawicki
mesh_terms: D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous / Q000009:adverse effects; D002407:Catheterization, Swan-Ganz / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004868:Equipment Failure; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000009:adverse effects; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors