STUDY PROTOCOL Open Access Influence of early goal-directed therapy using major complications in the first 30 days after the operation, including mortality. Secondary endpoints are length TRIALS

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleof stay in the hospital, length of stay in the intensive care or post-anesthesia care unit, the number of minor complications, quality of life, cost-effectiveness and one-year mortality and morbidity. Discussion: Before the start of the study, hemodynamic optimization by early goal-directed therapy with arterial waveform analysis had only been investigated in small, single-center studies, including minor complications as primary endpoint. Moreover, these studies did not include quality of life, healthcare costs, and long-term outcome in their analysis. As a result, the definitive role of arterial waveform analysis in the perioperative hemodynamic assessment and care for high-risk surgical patients is unknown, which gave rise to the present trial. Patient inclusion started in May 2012 and is expected to end in 2016. (Continued on next page) * Correspondence