Clinicians rely heavily on the device for monitoring intravascular volume and cardiac output.
The workshop's report contains recommendations for additional research on the safety, efficacy, and cost of the PA catheter and calls for new educational initiatives for physicians and nurses. Connors' observational study looked at outcomes of almost 6000 patients treated at five medical centers. The authors found that, even adjusting for severity of illness, patients who had pulmonary artery catheterization were at increased risk for death and their care required increased use of health care resources compared with patients who did not have catheterization. Although it was not a randomized, controlled trial, the Connors study made a forceful argument against aggressive use of the PA catheter. The participants recommended several randomized, controlled trials as the next step.