Ultrasound Guided Technique for Internal Jugular Central Venous Catheterization in Pediatric Cardiac Surgical Patients

Central venous access may be essential in pediatric patients for fluid and a blood product administration, medication, parenteral nutrition, renal replacement therapy and hemodynamic monitoring. Obtaining central venous access in pediatric patients can be challenging, failure rates in pediatric patients range from 5% to 19% with reported complication rates from 2.5% to 22%. The landmark technique has been standard approach for many years. In comparison with landmark method, in pediatric patients, the use of ultrasound is associated with an increased success rate decreased operative time, reduced number of cannulation attempts , and a decreased number of carotid artery punctures. This study is designed to evaluate the success rate, complications, time taken for successful cannulation and their correlation with cross sectional area of the vein.