[Gastric tonometry. Experience of a polyvalent intensive care unit]

Tonomitor NG tube was positioned in the stomach of 11 critical ill patients during their stay in ICU and 48 measurements of intramucosal pH (pHi) have been performed. In 7 patients haemodynamic measurement were performed in concomitance with each pHi measure. The Authors looked for statistical relations between pHi and SAPS, pHa, HCO3-a, MAP, DO2/BSA, VO2/BSA, SvO2, diuresis and outcome. A good correlation was found between pHi and MAP (r = 0.47). Dividing the considered parameters into 2 groups in agreement with pHi values < or = and > 7.32 significant relations (p < 0.05) results between pHi and SAPS, MAP, pHa. More significant relations were found between pHi and outcome (p = 0.0015) and between the mean of the pHi values obtained from each patient (pHi-m) and outcome (p = 0.0005). The pHi-m of the surviving patients was always > 7.32 while the pHi-m of the deceased patients was always < 7.32. This results confirm the importance of the pHi measured during the stay in ICU as a prognostic index and suggest that the MAP may be the most important haemodynamic parameter which correlate with pHi values.