Utilizing the vascular occlusion technique with NIRS technology

Assessment of microcirculation is important in several disease states, especially in the intensive care setting. Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is an easily applicable, non-invasive technique for the assessment of tissue oxygenation. NIRS combined with the vascular occlusion (arterial and venous) technique is a promising approach for the evaluation of the response to a standard duration ischemic stimulus in critically ill patients with sepsis, in chronic heart failure patients, in patients with claudication and a prompt response during interventions such as infusion of inotropes. The assessment of oxygen consumption rate of skeletal muscle, the endothelial function (reperfusion rate) and vascular reserve (reactive hyperemia) is consequently possible utilizing NIRS technology. NIRS with the vascular occlusion technique estimates microcirculation status and microcirculation's prompt response to interventions. NIRS can be used in a clinical setting for the assessment of microcirculation function and dysfunction in different disease states and the response to interventions and therapeutic modalities e.g. inotropes.Relevance to industryIn the occupational field it could be used for the estimation of the impact of exposure to harmful factors e.g. smoking and occupational exposure on microcirculation. Therefore NIRS could possibly be a promising monitoring and prognostic method as well as an end point for the titration of treatment modalities. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current knowledge, and the usefulness and limitations of NIRS, which has the potential to become a useful tool in clinical practice.