Central Venous Pressure Monitoring

Optimizing cardiovascular function is fundamental to the clinical management of anesthetized and critically ill animals. Central venous pressure (CVP) is a common method of estimating circulatory filling and cardiac preload in these settings to help guide fluid resuscitation and assess fluid balance in veterinary patients. CVP is determined primarily by the relationship between venous return and right heart function. CVP is commonly used to help guide fluid therapy in animals with abnormalities in circulating blood volume or abnormal right heart function. CVP is the direct measurement of venous pressure within the vena cava or right atrium. The list of supplies and equipment needed for continuous CVP measurement is more extensive than it is for intermittent measurement. CVP should never be used as the sole monitoring parameter to determine the adequacy of circulating blood volume. When CVP is falling or is extremely low, the index of suspicion for hypovolemia should be high.