A pulmonary artery catheter-based treatment algorithm changes therapeutic behaviour in septic patients

For years the role of the pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) in ICU patients has been a topic of discussion. The use of PAC itself is not associated with improved outcome, and might contribute to increased morbidity [1]. However, the influence of a therapeutic strategy, based on dynamic PAC-derived variables, has never been investigated. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether such PAC-based strategy influences therapeutic behaviour in septic patients.