Can Bedside Ultrasound Predict Central Venous Pressure?

Assessment of intravascular volume status and central venous pressure (CVP) can be important in guiding care of critically ill or injured patients. Traditionally, these determinations have been made either noninvasively, based on subjective clinical judgment and indirect measurement (e.g., urine production), or invasively, by placement of a central venous catheter. Evidence suggests that using ultrasound to measure the caval index (the collapsibility of the inferior vena cava) can provide an accurate quantitative measurement of CVP without invasive monitoring, but this assumption has not been validated in an emergency department (ED) setting.

In a prospective observational study, these investigators assessed the correlation between the caval…