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Published on: November 19, 2020
Effects of dopamine infusion on forearm blood flow in critical patients
Ornella Piazza1, Geremia Zito, Alessio Valente
1Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Universitŕ degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, School of Medicine, Naples, Italy. orpiazza@unina.it
Background:
In critical care, dopamine is administered by infusion at low doses (
Material/Methods:
An observational study was performed which included twelve critically ill patients. Patients' response to dopamine infusion (3 microg/kg/min) was studied within 24 hours from admission to the ICU. The forearm blood flow (FBF) and vascular resistance (FVR) were measured by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).
Results:
Dopamine did not ameliorate forearm regional oxygenation. The infusion of dopamine caused an increase in MAP, while FBF decreased with the resistance increase (p>0.05).
Conclusions:
NIRS was suitable to measure bedside the vascular resistance and to test the effects of low doses of dopamine on forearm blood flow. A dopamine infusion of 3.0 microg/kg/min caused a reduction in forearm blood flow and an increase in vascular resistance in our patients.
