The Relation Between Common Carotid Artery Diameter and Central Venous Pressure for Assessment of Intravascular Fluid Status after Major Surgeries; an Observational Study

OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to find the relation between the changes in the common carotid artery (CCA) diameter and the central venous pressure (CVP) in response to a fluid challenge in spontaneously breathing adult patients. METHODS: This study included 65 adult patients aged 20 - 60 years who were admitted to the surgical ICU. The CCA diameter and CVP were measured before and after fluid challenge, and the percentage of increase in the CCA diameter and CVP were calculated. The correlation was assessed between changes in the CVP and CCA diameter. RESULTS: The CCA diameter before fluid administration had a significant strong positive correlation to the CVP (r = 0.8, P value < 0.001); the increase in the CCA diameter after fluid administration had a significant moderate positive correlation with the increase in the CVP (r = 0.4, P value < 0.001). The percentage of increase in CCA diameters was positively correlated to the percentage of increase in CVP (r = 0.589, P value = 0.001) following fluid administration. However, the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was an invalid test (area under curve 0.513, P value = 0.885). CONCLUSIONS: After major surgeries, the change in the CCA diameter was positively correlated with the change in the CVP values in response to fluid administration in the spontaneously breathing adult patients, but the cut-off limit cannot be reached.