Ultrasound guidance for central venous catheter placement: results from the Central Line Emergency Access Registry Database.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound guidance of central venous catheter (CVC) insertion improves success rates and reduces complications and is recommended by several professional and regulatory organizations.

METHODS: This is a prospective observational study using data extracted from the Central Line Emergency Access Registry database, a multicenter online registry of CVC insertions from medical centers throughout the United States. We compared success rates with ultrasound and with the anatomic-landmark technique.

RESULTS: A total of 1250 CVC placement attempts by emergency medicine residents during the study period were selected from the Central Line Emergency Access Registry database. Because a few attempts (n = 28) were made to place lines in either the left or right supraclavicular locations, data on these attempts were eliminated from the analysis. A total of 1222 CVC attempts from 5 institutions were analyzed. Successful placement on the first attempt occurred in 1161 (86%) cases and varied according to anatomic location. Ultrasound guidance was used in 478 (41%) of the initial attempts. The remainder of placements were presumably placed using the anatomic-landmark technique based on visible surface and palpatory subcutaneous structures. Overall successful placement rate did not vary according to the use of ultrasound guidance, nor did it vary at different anatomic sites. However, ultrasound was found to be significant for reducing the total number of punctures per attempt (P < .02, t = 2.30).

CONCLUSIONS: Our study did not observe improved success with the use of ultrasound for CVC cannulation on the first attempt, but we did observe a reduced number of total punctures per attempt.