ltrasound Cannulation of the Internal Jugular Vei

Completed

Conditions: Critically ill patients
Respiratory
Critically ill

Registration Number: ISRCTN61258470

Lead Sponsor: General State Hospital of Athens (Greece)

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 1301

Inclusion Criteria

Amended as of 08/11/2010:
Critical care patients which are hospitalised in the intensive care unit from January 2000 to December 2006 and were all mechanically ventilated requiring central/subclavian venous access for various therapeutic reasons.

Initial information at time of registration:
Critical care patients which are hospitalised in the intensive care unit from January 2000 to December 2006 and were all mechanically ventilated requiring central venous access for various therapeutic reasons.

Exclusion Criteria

Patients who were not on mechanical ventilation

Study & Design

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Cannulation of the internal jugular vein was achieved in all patients using ultrasound and in 425 of the patients (94.4%), the landmark technique (p <0.001) was used. Average access time (skin to vein) and the number of attempts were significantly reduced in the ultrasound group of patients compared to the landmark group (p<0.001). In the landmark group, puncture of the carotid artery occurred in 10.6% of patients, hematoma in 8.4%, hemothorax in 1.7%, pneumothorax in 2.4% and central venous catheter-associated blood stream infections in 16% which were all significantly increased compared to the ultrasound group (p<0.001).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
There were no significant differences in gender, age, body mass index, left or right side of cannulation and in the presence of risk factors for difficult venous cannulation such as prior catheterization, limited sites for access attempts, previous difficulties during catheterization, previous mechanical complication, known vascular abnormality, untreated coagulopathy, skeletal deformity and cannulation during cardiac arrest between the two groups of patients. Furthermore, the physicians who performed the procedures had comparable experience in the placement of central venous catheters (p = non-significant).