Methods of volume status assessment

Dr Zahira Khalid is an associate professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at McMaster University.

What are the most reliable methods for assessing volume status?

Zahira Khalid, MBBS: I think it is the clinical context and what we have available. I still think they are almost as reliable as our clinical methods, and I guess old: looking at the vital signs, jugular venous pressure, and the clinical exam, but then you can get fancy with point-of-care ultrasound or having direct central venous pressure readings and so on.

They are all reliable in their own way, depending on the technique and expertise of the physician who is assessing it, and sometimes you need a mixture of them to get the most reliable answer.