ArticleAnnals of intensive care2025
Association between the Venous Excess Ultrasound (VExUS) score and acute kidney injury in critically ill patients with sepsis: a multicenter prospective observational study.
Article in Annals of intensive care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07691944 (Effect of VExUS Score-Guided Intraoperative Goal-Directed Fluid Therapy on Postoperative Pulmonary Complications in Elderly Patients Undergoing McKeown Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy), which is not on this map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Effect of VExUS Score-Guided Intraoperative Goal-Directed Fluid Therapy on Postoperative Pulmonary Complications in Elderly Patients Undergoing McKeown Minimally Invasive Esophagectomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- 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
- Beyond Fluid Responsiveness: Why Venous Congestion Matters in Sepsis.Current medical science · 2026Article
- Rethinking Congestion in Heart Failure from Volume Overload to Venous Pressure and Organ Disfunction with VExUS.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Review
- Association between trajectory of estimated plasma volume status and ICU mortality in sepsis patients: a retrospective cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Relationship between high VExUS score and echocardiographic parameters: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2026Review
- Renal congestion syndrome in critically ill patients: a neglected mechanism of acute kidney injury - A narrative review.Annals of intensive care · 2026Review
- Venous congestion in critical care: combining VExUS, lung ultrasound, and echocardiography.Annals of intensive care · 2026Article
- Venous excess and lung ultrasound during continuous renal replacement therapy in critically ill patients (VExLUS-RRT): a prospective observational study.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
- Early assessment of fluid tolerance (VExUS) and stroke volume (LVOT-VTI) to predict adverse outcomes in emergency department patients with suspected sepsis.Annals of intensive care · 2026Article
- Venous congestion from a vascular waterfall perspective: reframing congestion as a dynamic Starling resistor phenomenon.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2025Review
- Extreme Fluid Accumulation Syndrome or Compartmental Balance Disorder? A Sepsis-Associated Acute Kidney Injury Case Report and Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- VExUS score: optimizing its use in perioperative and critical care management.Critical care (London, England) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundVenous congestion is associated with adverse clinical outcomes in critically ill patients, yet its assessment remains challenging. Recently, the Venous Excess Ultrasound (VExUS) score has shown great potential as a non-invasive tool for assessing venous congestion in cardiac patients. However, the relationship between VExUS and clinical outcomes in patients with sepsis remains understudied. This study aims to evaluate the incidence of venous congestion based on VExUS assessment within the first 5 days of intensive care unit (ICU) admission in critically ill patients with sepsis, and to investigate the association between VExUS and clinical outcomes.
methodsWe conducted a prospective, observational study in four ICUs, enrolling adult patients with sepsis who stayed in the ICU for at least 24 h. VExUS assessments were performed on days 1 (within 24 h), 3 (48-72 h), and 5 (96-120 h) following ICU admission. Patients were classified according to VExUS score ≥ 2 or < 2. The primary outcome was the prevalence of acute kidney injury (AKI) during ICU stay, while secondary outcomes included 30-day mortality, ICU mortality, and requirement for renal replacement therapy (RRT).
resultsAmong the 108 patients included, 18% (19 patients) showed VExUS score ≥ 2 on day 1 of ICU admission, and the prevalence progressively decreased to 15% (15 patients) by day 3 and 6% (6 patients) by day 5. The VExUS score ≥ 2 was not associated with AKI (OR 1.82, 95% CI 0.62-5.31, p = 0.274), 30-day mortality (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.28-2.4, p = 0.711), ICU mortality (OR 1.12, 95% CI 0.41-3.04, p = 0.82), or requirement for RRT (OR 2.29, 95% CI 0.68-7.64, p = 0.179). There was no significant correlation between VExUS and central venous pressure (coefficient: - 0.019, 95% CI -0.01 to 0.05, p = 0.204).
conclusionIn critically ill patients with sepsis, approximately 20% exhibit early (within 24 h of ICU admission) venous congestion, with the prevalence progressively decreasing over the subsequent 5 days. Venous congestion assessed by VExUS was not associated with the occurrence of AKI or with mortality.
trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2200066987. Registered 22 December 2022, https://www.chictr.org.cn/.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.