Postoperative albumin infusion therapy based on colloid osmotic pressure. A prospectively randomized trial.

In a prospectively randomized trial of 220 patients, 106 were given albumin when their colloid osmotic pressure (COP) fell below 24 cm H2O and 114 were given albumin when their COP fell below 29 cm H2O. There was no difference in the postoperative course between the two groups; however, by using the lower COP limit the postoperative albumin consumption in the intensive care unit was reduced significantly and thus the costs of treatment were lowered. In the case of extremely low COP, the prognosis of the disease worsened, indicating that the COP is of prognostic value. The albumin supply, however, did not influence the final outcome of the patients under these circumstances because it treated only a characteristic symptom and not the cause of the disease.