Early goal-directed therapy (EGDT or EGDT) was introduced by Emanuel P. Rivers in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2001 and is a technique used in critical care medicine involving intensive monitoring and aggressive management of perioperative hemodynamics in patients with a high risk of morbidity and mortality.
The combination of GDT and Point-of-Care Testing has demonstrated a marked decrease in mortality for patients undergoing congenital heart surgery.
[2] Furthermore, a reduction in morbidity and mortality has been associated with GDT techniques when used in conjunction with an electronic medical record.
[5] EGDT, as compared to usual modern care, does not appear to improve outcomes but results in greater expense.
[5] In the event of hypotension and/or lactate greater than 4 mmol/L, initial management includes a minimum fluid challenge of 30 ml/kg of crystalloid solution.