The Use of Ultrasound for Placement of Intravenous Catheters
Abstract
Ultrasound has been used to aid cannulation of veins of the neck, chest, antecubital fossa as well as the femoral vein. This investigation compared the traditional method of peripheral intravenous (IV) cannulation of veins of the hands and forearms to ultrasound-guided (IV) cannulation of these veins. Subjects were adults of either gender who reported a history of difficult IV cannulation or, based on examination, suspected to be to be difficult to establish venous access in the veins of the hands and forearms. After obtaining Institutional Review Board approval and written informed consent, 35 subjects were prospectively enrolled with 16 subjects randomly assigned to the traditional group and 19 subjects to the ultrasound group. Patient demographics data included age, gender, and body mass index. Time taken for successful venous cannulation and number of attempts between the groups were compared using a Mann-Whitney U Test. The number of subjects where IV cannulation was successful on the first attempt was compared between the groups using the Fisher's Exact Test. No significant differences were noted between the groups in relation to demographics, time to successful cannulation, number of attempts, and number of subjects where IV cannulation was successful on the first attempt. Ultrasound was as efficacious as the traditional method of IV cannulation in this subset of patients. Future investigations should examine the efficacy of the ultrasound-guided technique of IV cannulation of these veins in patients who failed the traditional method.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 13, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA428738
Entities
People
- Said Acosta
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences