Vasoactive medication is one of the cornerstones in the treatment of critically ill patients in shock. Shock can be defined as a failure of the circulatory system to provide adequate tissue perfusion resulting in cellular injury and organ failure.

The definitive treatment of any type of shock is treatment of the underlying disease and in the case of sepsis achieving source control. This means that during treatment of critically ill patients, use of vasoactive drugs is part of a multi-approach and complicated but coherent and concerted treatment plan.

Vasoactive medication is generally discussed and studied apart from other elements of treatment and the effect on the cardiovascular circulation is considered pivotal.

This article will attempt to answer the question what drug dose should be administered as well as what hemodynamic values to pursue, and how much fluids must be infused by introducing the concept of “enough”.

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