The study was performed using a ultrasound machine with linear probe settings at 50 mm depth and 40 decibel [dB] gain that did not change during the study. The probe was placed on vascular ultrasound measurement. The diameter of the brachial artery in the middle of the upper arm and the flow rate through the artery was measured on postoperative days 1 and 2. The presence of the edema was measured above the 3rd metacarpal bone as the distance from the skin surface to the periosteum. An average of three assessments was shown. Patient's age, body mass index (BMI), type of admission, white blood cells (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin (PCT) were also registered.
The aim of this study was to measure whether the flow rate through the brachial artery and inflammatory markers were associated with the development of tissue edema in the surgical intensive care unit patients.