[Cardiac hemodynamics during shock : Management in daily clinical routine]

In caring for critically ill patients, a sophisticated approach to treating hemodynamic instability in acute circulatory failure is a major concern of modern critical care. Depending on the form of shock-distributive, cardiogenic, hypovolemic or obstructive, with the possibility of overlapping forms of shock-preload, afterload, cardiac output, and contractility are altered in various ways. Modern critical care uses hemodynamic monitoring and bedside echocardiography in addition to clinical evaluation to treat the underlying cause and sequelae of shock. Fluid therapy taking volume responsiveness and need for volume into account, vasopressor therapy taking microcirculatory derangement into account, and therapy using inotropes, sometimes in combination with vasodilators are the cornerstones of critical care treatment in this regard. Preload, afterload, cardiac output, and contractility must thereby be evaluated and treated in a patient- and situation-specific manner.