Effects of Dopamine, Dobutamine, and Dopexamine on Microcirculatory Blood Flow in the Gastrointestinal Tract during Sepsis and Anesthesia

Abstract

All the inotropic agents markedly increased cardiac output in this sepsis model. However, increased systemic flow did not reach the microcirculation in the gastrointestinal tract. This may in part explain why some of the clinical trials, in which systemic oxygen delivery was deliberately increased by administration of inotropic drugs, have failed to improve survival in critically ill patients.