Post-Operative Cerebral Oximetry for Detection of Low - Cardiac Output Syndrome after Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery in Patients with Low Pre-Operative Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction - A Protocol for an Observational Study on Simultaneous Monitoring of Cerebral Oximetry and Cardiac Index

Background: While cerebral near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a valuable diagnostic tool to monitor brain oxygenation during cardiac surgery, its value in situations of low cardiac output in critical care patients has not been thoroughly evaluated. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the correlation of NIRS with cardiac index in low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS). The hypothesis of this study is that NIRS shows significant decline during LCOS earlier than routine hemodynamic measurements.