Pulmonary artery catheters: Evolving rates and reasons for use*

OBJECTIVE: Randomized trials have demonstrated risks and failed to establish a clear benefit for the use of the pulmonary artery catheter. We assessed rates of pulmonary artery catheter use in multiple centers over 5 yrs, variables associated with their use, and how these variables changed over time (2002-2006). DESIGN: A multicenter longitudinal study using the Hamilton Regional Critical Care Database. A two-level multiple logistic regression …