Placement of central venous catheters and patient safety

Placement of a central venous catheter is one of the most common invasive procedures and is associated with septic and mechanical complications, such as bleeding and pneumothorax. Up to 30% of attempts to cannulate the central vein fail. Correct positioning of the patient can help to maximise the success rate. For placement of catheters in the subclavian vein, patients should be in the Trendelenburg position without the use of a shoulder roll to retract the shoulders. Traditionally, central venous catheters are placed using a 'blind' technique that relies on external anatomical reference marks to localise the vein. However, unnoticed anatomical variations or central venous thrombosis may contribute to cannulation failure with this technique. The use of ultrasound has been shown to increase the success rate and avoid mechanical complications when placing a catheter in the internal jugular vein. It may also increase the success rate in subclavian vein catheterisation. To increase patient safety, the use of ultrasound when placing a central venous catheter should be embraced and become the standard of care.