Help please

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Im doing a case study for clinicals and I need to know why a PAC is used to monitor septic shock! Thank you in advance!

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Specializes in ICU, telemetry, LTAC.

What is a PAC? I'm thinking telemetry rythyms here...

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pulmonary artery catheter

this is related to CCU clinicals (i should have said that before)

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nevermind i finally figured it out, thanks anyway!

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Specializes in ICU-CVICU.

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic533.htm

Try this article about sepsis. Here is a excerpt.

In some patients, clinical assessment of the response to volume infusion may be difficult. The physician can assess these patients by monitoring the response of the central venous pressure or pulmonary artery occlusion pressure to aliquots of fluid. A sustained increase of more than 5 mm Hg after volume infusion indicates that the compliance of the vascular system is decreasing as further fluid is being infused. Patients with such responses are susceptible to volume overload, and further fluids should be given carefully. Colloid resuscitation (with albumin or hetastarch) has no proven benefit compared with isotonic crystalloid resuscitation (isotonic sodium chloride solution or lactated Ringer solution).

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