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ICU TopicsResuscitation & shock

ICU · Resuscitation & shock

Endpoints of Resuscitation — Lactate, ScvO2, Mottling, Urine, Capillary Refill

Also known as Resuscitation endpoints · Adequacy of resuscitation · Lactate clearance · ScvO2 · Central venous oxygen saturation · Mottling score · Capillary refill time · ANDROMEDA-SHOCK · Goal-directed therapy · Pcv-aCO2 gap · Venous-to-arterial CO2 gap · Base deficit · De-resuscitation · Fluid overload · Sublingual microcirculation · NIRS StO2 · ROSE fluid framework

Resuscitation endpoints span three tiers used together rather than in isolation: macro-haemodynamic endpoints such as MAP and urine output, metabolic endpoints such as lactate clearance and ScvO2, and peripheral perfusion endpoints such as capillary refill time, mottling score, and skin temperature.

high23 referencesUpdated 26 July 202619 min readSource-verified · Oct 2026

Checked against its sources on 2 Oct 2026

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The one-line answer

No single variable defines "resuscitated enough." Use three tiers together — macro-haemodynamic (MAP at least 65 mmHg, urine output), metabolic (lactate clearance at least 10 per cent every 2 hours, ScvO2 at least 70 per cent), and peripheral perfusion (normalisation of capillary refill time, mottling score 0 to 5). The field moved from Rivers' rigid ScvO2-driven protocol to individualised perfusion targeting: ProCESS showed protocolised care adds nothing over modern usual care, and ANDROMEDA-SHOCK compared capillary-refill targeting head-to-head with lactate targeting.[11][6][5][3]

Meet the patient

A 55-year-old man in septic shock from a urinary focus has received initial crystalloid (the Surviving Sepsis Campaign suggests at least 30 mL/kg within the first 3 hours) and is now on noradrenaline at 0.3 mcg/kg/min. His MAP is 70, lactate 3.2 (was 5.1), capillary refill 6 s, mottling around both knees, ScvO2 65 per cent. The registrar asks whether he is adequately resuscitated.[7]

The MAP looks fine; the lactate is coming down. But the periphery tells a different story. The answer to "have I resuscitated enough?" is never a single number — it is three tiers of evidence read together, and the bedside finger press you can do in five seconds carries as much weight as the arterial gas.[3]

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References23ShowHide
  1. [1]Rivers E, Nguyen B, Havstad S, et al. Early goal-directed therapy in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock N Engl J Med, 2001.PMID 11794169
  2. [2]Jansen TC, van Bommel J, Schoonderbeek FJ, et al. Early lactate-guided therapy in intensive care unit patients: a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 2010.PMID 20463176
  3. [3]Hernández G, Ospina-Tascón GA, Damiani LP, et al. Effect of a Resuscitation Strategy Targeting Peripheral Perfusion Status vs Serum Lactate Levels on 28-Day Mortality Among Patients With Septic Shock: The ANDROMEDA-SHOCK Randomized Clinical Trial JAMA, 2019.PMID 30772908
  4. [4]Ait-Oufella H, Lemoinne S, Boelle PY, et al. Mottling score predicts survival in septic shock Intensive Care Med, 2011.PMID 21373821
  5. [5]Yealy DM, Kellum JA, Huang DT, et al. A randomized trial of protocol-based care for early septic shock N Engl J Med, 2014.PMID 24635773
  6. [6]Jones AE, Shapiro NI, Trzeciak S, et al. Lactate clearance vs central venous oxygen saturation as goals of early sepsis therapy: a randomized clinical trial JAMA, 2010.PMID 20179283
  7. [7]Evans L, Rhodes A, Alhazzani W, et al. Surviving sepsis campaign: international guidelines for management of sepsis and septic shock 2021 Intensive Care Med, 2021.PMID 34599691
  8. [8]Peake SL, Delaney A, Bailey M, et al. Goal-directed resuscitation for patients with early septic shock N Engl J Med, 2014.PMID 25272316
  9. [9]Mouncey PR, Osborn TM, Power GS, et al. Trial of early, goal-directed resuscitation for septic shock N Engl J Med, 2015.PMID 25776532
  10. [10]Rowan KM, Angus DC, Bailey M, et al. Early, Goal-Directed Therapy for Septic Shock - A Patient-Level Meta-Analysis N Engl J Med, 2017.PMID 28320242
  11. [11]Asfar P, Meziani F, Hamel JF, et al. High versus low blood-pressure target in patients with septic shock N Engl J Med, 2014.PMID 24635770
  12. [12]Marik PE, Baram M, Vahid B Does central venous pressure predict fluid responsiveness? A systematic review of the literature and the tale of seven mares Chest, 2008.PMID 18628220
  13. [13]Bakker J, Vincent JL, Gris P, et al. Veno-arterial carbon dioxide gradient in human septic shock Chest, 1992.PMID 1735281
  14. [14]Meyhoff TS, Hjortrup PB, Wetterslev J, et al. Restriction of Intravenous Fluid in ICU Patients with Septic Shock N Engl J Med, 2022.PMID 35709019
  15. [15]Malbrain MLNG, Van Regenmortel N, Saugel B, et al. Principles of fluid management and stewardship in septic shock: it is time to consider the four D's and the four phases of fluid therapy Ann Intensive Care, 2018.PMID 29789983
  16. [16]Wiedemann HP, Wheeler AP, Bernard GR, et al. Comparison of two fluid-management strategies in acute lung injury N Engl J Med, 2006.PMID 16714767
  17. [17]Singer M, Deutschman CS, Seymour CW, et al. The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3) JAMA, 2016.PMID 26903338
  18. [18]Kattan E, Hernández G The role of peripheral perfusion markers and lactate in septic shock resuscitation. J Intensive Med, 2022.PMID 36789233
  19. [19]Chertoff J, Chisum M, Garcia B, et al. Lactate kinetics in sepsis and septic shock: a review of the literature and rationale for further research. J Intensive Care, 2015.PMID 26445673
  20. [20]Textoris J, Fouché L, Wiramus S, et al. High central venous oxygen saturation in the latter stages of septic shock is associated with increased mortality. Crit Care, 2011.PMID 21791065
  21. [21]Ospina-Tascón GA, Madriñán-Navia H Should microcirculation monitoring be used to guide fluid resuscitation in severe sepsis and septic shock? Rev Bras Ter Intensiva, 2015.PMID 26340146
  22. [22]Huang H, Shen Q, Liu Y, et al. Value of variation index of inferior vena cava diameter in predicting fluid responsiveness in patients with circulatory shock receiving mechanical ventilation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Crit Care, 2018.PMID 30126449
  23. [23]Lichtenstein DA, Bar S Lung ultrasound for causal diagnosis of shock (FALLS-protocol), a tool helping to guide fluid therapy while approaching fluid tolerance. Some comments on its accuracy. Ann Intensive Care, 2024.PMID 38874902

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