Manipulating Hemodynamics and Oxygen Transport in Critically Ill Patients

Survival after trauma, surgery, or sepsis is associated with the attainment of high levels of oxygen delivery and oxygen consumption.1 This observation has fueled the expectation that the outcome of critical illness may be improved by attempts to replicate the hemodynamic values and patterns of oxygen transport found in survivors of serious illness or injury. Such treatment has been thought to prevent or reverse tissue hypoxia by compensating for the increased demand for oxygen imposed by critical illness, as well as the maldistribution of blood flow that often occurs both regionally and in the microcirculation; in addition, this treatment has . . .