Kim EH, et al. - This study entails the comparison of two cannulation techniques in a pediatric population: real-time ultrasound-guided axillary vein cannulation vs. conventional infraclavicular landmark-guided subclavian vein cannulation. Findings demonstrated the usefulness as well as the efficacy of real-time ultrasound-guided axillary vein cannulation in this patient population.

Methods

• This study included a total of 132 paediatric patients who were randomly allocated to either ultrasound-guided axillary vein (axillary group) or landmark-guided subclavian vein (landmark group).
• Success rate after two attempts, first-attempt success rate, time to cannulation and complication rate were the outcomes measured.

Results

• In the axillary group versus landmark group, the success rate after two attempts was 83% and 63%, respectively (odds ratio 2.85, 95%CI 1.25–6.48, p = 0.010).
• Findings demonstrated that the first-attempt success rate was 46% and 40% for the axillary group and the landmark group (p = 0.274) respectively (p = 0.274).
• Data also showed that median time to cannulation was 156 s for the axillary group and 180 s for the landmark group (p = 0.286).
• Researchers found that both groups did not differ in terms of complication rates, although three episodes of subclavian artery puncture occurred in the landmark group (p = 0.08).