Low central venous oxygen saturation in haemodynamically stabilized trauma patients is associated with poor outcome

Background: Central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) is suggested to reflect the adequacy of oxygen delivery, and the main objective of the present study was to determine whether ScvO2 is associated with outcome in haemodynamically stabilized trauma patients. Methods: Haemodynamically unstable trauma patients receiving a central venous line within 1 h of admission were eligible for inclusion in this prospective observational study. The mean arterial pressure (MAP), lactate and ScvO2 were recorded at inclusion and every 6 h for 36 h or until lactate was <2.0 mmol/l and ScvO2 was 475% in two consecutive measurements. Patients with a MAP of ≥ 70 mmHg were considered to be haemodynamically stabilized. The outcome measure was complications defined as infections, delta sequential organ failure assessment score of >0, and mortality. Results: Fifty patients with a median new injury severity score of 27 (17-34) were analysed. Complications occurred in 33 patients. An association between ScvO2 following resuscitation to MAP ≥ 70 mmHg and complications was detected with an odds ratio of 0.94 (95% confidence interval; 0.89-0.99). This association was also significant when adjusted for injury severity. The result implies that a low ScvO2 value is associated with more complications. The optimal cut-off for ScvO2 to discriminate between patients who did or did not develop complications was found to be 66.5% (56-86%). Conclusions: These data suggest that low ScvO2 in haemodynamically stabilized patients is associated with a poor outcome and that ScvO2 represents a potential endpoint of resuscitation in trauma patients. © 2011 The Authors Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica © 2011 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation.