Observational studyCritical care (London, England)2023
Prevalence of systemic venous congestion assessed by Venous Excess Ultrasound Grading System (VExUS) and association with acute kidney injury in a general ICU cohort: a prospective multicentric study.
Observational study in Critical care (London, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 46 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Venous Congestion and Organ Dysfunction in Intensive Care: a Prospective, Multicenter, Observational Study to Evaluate Prevalence and Risk Factors.
The Impact of VeXUS-guided Fluid Management in ICU Populations on Renal Function
VEXUS-REA : Evaluation of Ultrasound Parameters of Venous Congestion in Patients in a Medical Intensive Care Unit
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- ESICM guidelines on circulatory shock and hemodynamic monitoring 2025.Intensive care medicine · 2025Guideline
- A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Ultrasound Evaluation of Fluid Tolerance for Acute Kidney Injury: USE-the-FORCE-for-AKI Trial.Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN · 2026Trial
- Comparison of oral water ingestion and intravenous fluid infusion on fluid responsiveness in healthy volunteers, a prospective, randomized trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Impact of renal vein doppler ultrasound-guided CVP titration in sepsis: a pilot randomized controlled trial.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Trial
- Characterizing the molecular landscape of venous congestion.World journal of critical care medicine · 2026Article
- Venous dimension of shock: Integrating arterial inflow and venous back-pressure in hemodynamic assessment.World journal of critical care medicine · 2026Review
- Beyond right ventricular injury: toward a full-chain right-heart monitoring framework in acute respiratory distress syndrome.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2026Article
- Portal Vein Doppler Parameters as Indicators of Volume Status in Hemodialysis Patients Using Wireless Ultrasound.Cureus · 2026Article
- Right ventricular-protective ventilation in acute respiratory distress syndrome: phenotypes, monitoring and ventilatory management.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
- Venous excess doppler ultrasound: What radiologists should know in 2026.World journal of radiology · 2026Review
- Fluid management methods for severely burned patients: a narrative review.Journal of clinical monitoring and computing · 2026Review
- Association between VExUS score and worsening renal function during diuretic therapy in the ICU.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2026Article
- Assessment of Congestion in Heart Failure Using VExUS: Current Evidence, Limitations and Clinical Perspectives.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Lung and Venous Excess Ultrasound Correlation With Intracardiac Pressures Before and After Decongestion in Critically Ill Patients With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.Critical care explorations · 2026Observational
- A comprehensive review of venous excess ultrasound (VExUS) score: evidence from original research.Internal and emergency medicine · 2026Review
- Relationship between high VExUS score and echocardiographic parameters: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2026Review
- Venous congestion in critical care: combining VExUS, lung ultrasound, and echocardiography.Annals of intensive care · 2026Article
- Association between venous excess ultrasound score and major adverse kidney events at 30 days in critically ill elderly patients: a multicenter prospective cohort study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Venous congestion from a vascular waterfall perspective: reframing congestion as a dynamic Starling resistor phenomenon.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2025Review
- VExUS score: optimizing its use in perioperative and critical care management.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe importance of assessing venous congestion in ICU patients is widely acknowledged, but its study is hampered by the lack of a practical evaluation tool. The Venous Excess Ultrasound Grading System (VExUS), based on a semi-quantitative combined ultrasound assessment, has been associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) in cardiac ICU patients. The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of congestion using VExUS in general ICU patients, and to evaluate the association between VExUS, AKI and death.
methodsThis prospective, observational study included adult patients within 24 h of ICU admission. VExUS and hemodynamic parameters were measured four times during the ICU stay: within 24 h of ICU admission, after day 1 (between 24 and 48 h), after day 2 (between 48 and 72 h), and last day of ICU stay. The prevalence of AKI during the first week in ICU and 28-day mortality were assessed.
resultsAmong the 145 patients included, the percentage of patients with a VExUS score of 2 (moderate congestion) and 3 (severe congestion) was 16% and 6%, respectively. The prevalence did not change over the study period. There was no significant association between admission VExUS scores and AKI (p = 0.136) or 28-day mortality (p = 0.594). Admission VExUS ≥ 2 was not associated with AKI (OR 0.499, CI
conclusionsIn general ICU cohort the prevalence of moderate to severe venous congestion was low. Early assessment of systemic venous congestion using VExUS scores was not associated with the development of AKI or with 28-day mortality.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.