Correlation between central venous and peripheral venouspressures in surgical patients

IntroductionThe central venous pressure (CVP) measurement is important in assessing right ventricularfunction and systemic fl uid status, and the venous pressures measured from peripheral venouscatheters closely correlate with CVP and/or CVP trends. The correlation between CVP andperipheral venous pressure (PVP) in patients undergoing major surgical procedures undermechanical ventilation during normotension, hypotension, in the presence of inotropes, andpostoperatively during spontaneous respiration was studied in this study.Materials and methodsIn this prospective, observational study, 40 adult patients undergoing surgical procedureslasting for more than 5 h, where a major blood loss was expected, were studied. The CVPand PVP were recorded simultaneously at a 15 min interval until 4 h intraoperatively, followedby hourly during the postoperative period for 4 h. Statistical analysis used Student’s t-test toanalyze statistical signifi cance of difference in mean, Pearson’s product moment correlationcoeffi cient to assess correlation, and paired t-test to assess changes in mean arterial pressure.ResultsThroughout the study period, PVP persistently showed a positive trend with a signifi cantlyhigher value than CVP (P 0.001), but a statistically signifi cant correlation could not bedemonstrated persistently.ConclusionHence, it is concluded that measurement of PVP can be considered as an alternative to CVPmonitoring, when conditions are impractical for central venous catheterization.