The use of pulmonary-artery (PA) catheters in high-risk surgical patients is more likely to be harmful than helpful, according to the results of a randomized trial reported in the Jan. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The editorialist agrees that they should not be used in this population and gives perspective about the overzealous embracing of this technology.
“More than 1.5 million PA catheters are inserted into medical and surgery patients in North America annually, despite calls for a moratorium on the use of this invasive technology because observational studies have suggested an association with increased mortality,” write James D. Sandham, MD, from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, and colleagues.
השאירו תגובה
רוצה להצטרף לדיון?תרגישו חופשי לתרום!