The Role of Electrical Cardiometry in Paediatrics and Neonatal Anaesthesia and Intensive Care: A Narrative Review
Author(s): Khaled A Yassen, Zahra Al Ghadeer, Fatimah AlHejji, Fatimah Alothman, Huda Alethan, Danah AlAli, Lamis AlJamaan, Dur I Shahwar, Lien Reyin, Yasser Nassef
Invasive hemodynamic monitoring could be challenging among pediatrics, particularly infants and new-borns. This current narrative review aims to discuss and present the published literature that addresses the optimal use and validity of the electrical cardiometry (EC) device among pediatrics. This is a non-invasive continuous cardiac output and hemodynamic monitor that measures the electrical transthoracic bioimpedance. Literature search focused on PubMed (MEDLINE), Saudi Digital library (SDL), and Google Scholar database between 2010 and 2022. English language studies were included only. The retrieved data were peer-reviewed manuscripts, including print publications and case presentations. This review provided evidence that EC monitoring among the pediatrics age group was able to track CO changes over the time (Trend). However, EC absolute values for CO were interchangeable with the CO measurements derived from the thermodilution technique in some studies and were not interchangeable in some others. The variation in clinical conditions and surgical procedures affected the performance EC CO. In specific clinical scenarios, EC CO trend changes proved to be of extreme help during transportations and in operating rooms during PDA ligation. The EC technology is easy to use and is an addition for future developments in monitoring, particularly for the pediatric age group. More studies are recommended to improve further the precision of the absolute CO measurements and to study the impact of the EC on short- and long-term clinical outcomes.