Advances of central venous-to-arterial blood carbon dioxide partial pressure difference in clinical application

In critical patients, haemodynamic instability is very common, and tissue hypoperfusion and oxygen metabolism failure are the primary causes. Therefore, early recognizing and correcting tissue hypoperfusion is crucially important. Traditional indicators of oxygen metabolism including central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2), mixed venous oxygen saturation (), and lactate, had only limited guiding significance for the clinical treatment. Central venous-to-arterial blood carbon dioxide partial pressure difference (Pcv-aCO2) is very sensitive to reflect the changes in tissue perfusion and cardiac output (CO), and it has been intensively applied to guide fluid resuscitation for septic shock, traumatic shock, high risk post-operation patients, and to judge prognosis. The clinical application of Pcv-aCO2 in septic shock, cardiovascular disease, major operation, acute hemorrhage, burn, traumatic shock, and volume loading test were addressed in this review, and its value and prospect was analyzed. Key words: Central venous-to-arterial blood carbon dioxide partial pressure difference;  Oxygen metabolism;  Tissue perfusion