Introduction:
There are no well-recognised guidelines for intraoperative fluid management in patients with end-stage renal failure (ESRF). Goal-directed fluid therapy (GDFT) is a concept of perioperative fluid management that improves patients’ prognosis. In this study, we assessed a GDFT protocol with monitoring of pulse pressure variation (PPV) in patients with ESRF undergoing parathyroidectomy.

Material and methods:
A total of 102 patients who underwent elective parathyroidectomy were randomised into a control group (restrictive group, n = 51), managed with a restricted fluid regimen, or a PPV group (GDFT group, n = 51), given a normal saline infusion, and they were monitored for changes in PPV. If PPV reached > 13%, 250 ml of normal saline was administered over 15 min. Ephedrine was given to keep the mean arterial pressure > 65 mm Hg. Haemodynamic variables in the perioperative period were recorded. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of postoperative hypotension.

Results:
The occurrence of postoperative hypotension (0 vs. 11.67%, p = 0.027) and complications (35.3% vs. 54.9%, p = 0.047) in the GDFT group was lower than in the restrictive group. The volume of saline infused during the operation was 364 (219–408) ml and 50 (50–50) ml, respectively (p = 0.001). Ephedrine was given to 16/51 (29.4%) patients of the GDFT group and 27/51 (52.9%) patients of the restrictive group (p = 0.027).

Conclusions:
The use of GDFT with dynamic PPV monitoring in patients with ESRF undergoing parathyroidectomy could potentially be used to guide the administration of infused fluids, with the possibility of reducing the occurrence of postoperative hypotension.