What every intensivist should know about the IVC

Philippe Rola; Korbin Haycock; Rory Spiegel

doi:10.1016/j.jcrc.2023.154455

What every intensivist should know about the IVC

J Crit Care. 2024 Apr:80:154455. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2023.154455. Epub 2023 Nov 7.

Authors

Philippe Rola¹, Korbin Haycock², Rory Spiegel³

Affiliations

¹ Intensive Care Unit, Santa Cabrini Hospital, CEMTL, Montreal, Canada. Electronic address: philipperola@gmail.com.
² Emergency Department, Riverside University Health Systems, Moreno Valley, CA, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda CA, and Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, CA, United States of America.
³ Departments of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, Medstar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, United States of America.

PMID: 37945462
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrc.2023.154455

Abstract

Assessment of the IVC by point-of-care ultrasound in the context of resuscitation has been a controversial topic in the last decades. Most of the focus had been on its use as a surrogate marker for fluid responsiveness, with results being equivocal. We review its important anatomical aspects as well as the physiological rationale behind ultrasound assessment and propose a new way to do so, as well as explain its central role in the concept of fluid tolerance.

Keywords: Critical care; Fluid responsiveness; Fluid tolerance; IVC POCUS; Resuscitation.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Fluid Therapy* / methods
Humans
Point-of-Care Systems
Point-of-Care Testing
Resuscitation / methods
Ultrasonography / methods
Vena Cava, Inferior* / diagnostic imaging
Vena Cava, Inferior* / physiology