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Effect of vasopressin on sublingual microcirculation in a patient with distributive shock
Marc J Dubois1, Daniel De Backer2, Jacques Creteur1
1Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Erasme Hospital, Route de Lennik 808, 1070, Brussels, Belgium.
Objective:
To assess the sublingual microcirculation in a patient during vasopressin administration for a distributive shock after cardiopulmonary bypass.
Design And Setting:
Case-report in the Department of Intensive Care of a university hospital.
Patient:
A 53 year-old man developed severe distributive shock after cardiac transplant, requiring massive doses of vasopressor agents.
Methods:
Vasopressin administered twice at a dose of 0.02 U/min increased mean blood pressure and allowed partial weaning of other vasopressor drugs. Microcirculatory alterations were assessed by orthogonal polarization spectral technique: 50% and 60% of capillaries were perfused at baseline, and these proportions did not worsen when vasopressin was administered.
Conclusions:
Despite its strong vasopressor effects vasopressin infusion did not worsen microcirculatory alterations in this patient with distributive shock following cardiac surgery.