 To alleviate CPB-induced systemic inflammatory response and organ-specific injury, different interventions exist, including meticulous hemodynamic and metabolic monitoring followed by goal-directed therapy. Several recent studies from our group and other authors have clearly demonstrated the beneficial effects of such an approach in cardiac surgery. In these settings, when the extraction of O2 on cellular level may be severely disturbed, the complex analysis of changes in tissue perfusion and oxygenation before adjusting the therapy may be useful. 