Management of perioperative volume therapy - Monitoring and pitfalls

Over 300 million surgical processes were performed every year worldwide and anesthesiologists play an important role in the perioperative process to assess the overall risk of surgery for the patient. The goal is to improve complications after surgery and one piece in the puzzle of improving outcomes in perioperative patients is certainly perioperative hemodynamic and volume management. There is ongoing discussion about goal directed therapy, however there is consensus that fluid overload and severe fluid depletion in the perioperative period is harmful and leads to unfavorable outcomes. This article should give an overview about how to evaluate the fluid responsiveness of the patients and what parameters could be used and what limitations should be noted.