ABSTRACT
Decreased perfusion of vital tissues, resulting in inadequate delivery of oxygen and other essential bloodborne nutrients, is a commonly encountered and serious problem for the patient in an intensive care unit (ICU). Hypoperfusion can occur in the setting of either volume depletion, as from gastrointestinal blood loss, or volume overload, as in congestive heart failure (CHF) or cirrhosis. In both cases, the kidney attempts to restore effective tissue perfusion by reabsorbing sodium and increasing extracellular volume (ECV).
