Using bedside pulmonary artery catheterisation (PAC) in the management of critically ill patients provides no demonstrable benefit for patients, according to new research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA).
An initial review of the existing evidence, led by Dr Kathy Rowan of the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre, identified little evidence to support the management of critically ill patients with PAC.
Dr Rowan’s team conducted a randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving more than 1,000 patients across 65 UK ICUs, the largest trial to date and first academic funded RCT in UK intensive care. They investigated patient survival rates and length of stay in the ICU, as well as conducting an economic evaluation.
The researchers found that using PAC to help manage critically ill patients neither improved hospital survival nor reduced the length of stay for adult, general intensive care patients and, in some cases, complications were associated with the insertion of a PAC.
