Simultaneous estimation of cardiac output (GO) by thoracic electrical
bioimpedance (TEE) and thermodilution (To) confirmed the results of a
previous study which showed good agreement between these methods in se
lected, principally non-septic, patients. Poor agreement was found bet
ween simultaneous TEE and oesophageal Doppler monitoring (ODM) estimat
es of baseline and acute changes in CO. Taken with the results of prev
ious studies, this implies that although isolated ODM estimates of CO,
which tend to underestimate, are less reliable, ODM is the preferred
method to monitor acute changes in CO. For many reasons, not least the
speed with which a large number of seriously injured soldiers could b
e assessed, ODM is probably the better method if a non-invasive estima
te of CO is required in field hospitals.