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Ultrasound for Vascular Access

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Ultrasound in the Intensive Care Unit

Part of the book series: Respiratory Medicine ((RM))

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Abstract

The use of ultrasound guidance during vascular procedures has become standard of care in intensive care units worldwide. Ultrasound-guided vascular access is associated with increased cannulation success rates and decreased complications in adults, children, and neonates compared to the blind technique. The ultrasound method aids in selecting the optimal target vessel by identifying patency, diameter, anatomical variations and ruling out associated pathologies such as thrombosis. Real-time ultrasound-guided cannulation allows continuous needle visualization, thus avoiding inadvertent trauma to adjacent arteries or puncture of the posterior venous wall. Ultrasound extends the possible targeted vessels to involve less frequently cannulated vessels such as the axillary and brachiocephalic veins, and can also be used for arterial cannulation. We advocate the implementation of a three-step technique (pre-procedural scanning, real-time ultrasound-guided cannulation, post-procedural scanning) to maximize success rates and to decrease complications.

The original version of this chapter was revised. An erratum to this chapter can be found at DOI 10.1007/978-1-4939-1723-5_17

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, University of Virginia, 800710, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA

    Abdullah Sulieman Terkawi M.D.

  2. Jay B. Langner Critical Care Service, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 111 E. 210th St, Bronx, NY, 10467, USA

    Ariel L. Shiloh M.D.

  3. Pediatric Cardiac ICU, King Abdulaziz Cardiac Center, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Mahmoud Elbarbary

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Carolina, School of Medicine, Building 3, DVAMC Campus, 216-3301, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Dimitrios Karakitsos M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc.

Authors
  1. Abdullah Sulieman Terkawi M.D.
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  2. Ariel L. Shiloh M.D.
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  3. Mahmoud Elbarbary
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  4. Dimitrios Karakitsos M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abdullah Sulieman Terkawi M.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Providence VA Medical Center, Warren Alpert Medical School Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

    Matthew Jankowich

  2. Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Warren Alpert Medical School Brown University, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA

    Eric Gartman

Electronic Supplementary Material

Applying probe pressure on the patent right femoral vein results in its total collapse (AVI 8,910 KB)

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Terkawi, A.S., Shiloh, A.L., Elbarbary, M., Karakitsos, D. (2015). Ultrasound for Vascular Access. In: Jankowich, M., Gartman, E. (eds) Ultrasound in the Intensive Care Unit. Respiratory Medicine. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1723-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1723-5_3

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1722-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1723-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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