Información de la revista
Vol. 47. Núm. 7.
Páginas 371-372 (julio 2023)
Compartir
Compartir
Descargar PDF
Más opciones de artículo
Vol. 47. Núm. 7.
Páginas 371-372 (julio 2023)
Editorial
Acceso a texto completo
Ultrasound-guided arterial cannulation: Is the game over for the palpation technique?
Canulación arterial ecodirigida: ¿se terminó el juego para la técnica palpatoria?
Visitas
1709
Pablo Blanco
High-dependency Unit, Hospital “Dr. Emilio Ferreyra”, 4801, 59 Ave., Necochea 7630, Argentina
Contenido relacionado
Shreyas Gutte, Afzal Azim, Banani Poddar, Mohan Gurjar, Anup Kumar
Este artículo ha recibido
Información del artículo
Texto completo
Bibliografía
Descargar PDF
Estadísticas
Texto completo

Ultrasound-guided vascular cannulation is currently the standard in adult critical care medicine, largely replacing the traditional technique for central venous and arterial catheter placement. In addition, it improves the success rate of peripheral venous cannulation in patients with difficult intravenous access. Although international guidelines provide clear statements emphasizing the use of ultrasound guidance for this procedure,1–4 many of these recommendations are based on studies performed mostly outside the intensive care unit (ICU), particularly in the operating room. While extrapolation is valid, it is noteworthy that patients in the ICU have unique factors that make cannulation challenging, such as shock, edema, or obesity.

The study by Gutte et al.5 has a very important strength: it was performed entirely in ICU patients. Unsurprisingly, ultrasound-guided cannulation outperformed palpation for arterial line placement in the radial, dorsalis pedis, and femoral arteries.

First and foremost, ultrasound guidance won the battle for first-pass success. This outcome is of pivotal relevance, given that repeated punctures may complicate subsequent cannulation due to vasospasm or acute hematoma formation, incrementing complications and patient discomfort, and ultimately delaying the measurement of arterial pressure. Second, and linked to the high rate of first-pass success, the cannulation time was shorter with ultrasound guidance than with palpation. The efficiency matters, and here, ultrasound guidance won again. Third, interestingly, the authors pointed out the performance of ultrasound guidance in patients with variables common to the ICU population, such as shock and the intensity of pharmacological support (using the vasoactive-inotropic score or VIS), and a body mass index >25kg/m2. Again, ultrasound was better than palpation, confirming that in these frequent ICU scenarios, pulse palpation is equivocal.

Readers may highlight the typical limitations of a study that may lead to biased results, such as the sample size, approach used (in-plane vs. out-of-plane) and operator expertise. One may also argue that the performance of ultrasound guidance should be tested on other arteries, such as the ulnar artery (in some patients, it is larger than the radial artery6) and the brachial, axillary, or even popliteal arteries. However, based on the findings of this study, which reproduced real-world ICU scenarios, intensivists should consider using ultrasound guidance instead of palpation for arterial line placement.

In summary, the research by Gutta et al.5 brings light to practice, providing evidence that palpation seems to have lost most if not all lives in the game of arterial cannulation.

Conflicts of interest

The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.

This work has not been presented at any conferences.

Funding

This work has not been supported by any grants.

References
[1]
M. Lamperti, D.G. Biasucci, N. Disma, M. Pittiruti, C. Breschan, D. Vailati, et al.
European Society of Anaesthesiology guidelines on peri-operative use of ultrasound-guided for vascular access (PERSEUS vascular access).
Eur J Anaesthesiol., 37 (2020), pp. 344-376
[2]
R. Franco-Sadud, D. Schnobrich, B.K. Mathews, C. Candotti, S. Abdel-Ghani, M.G. Perez, et al.
Recommendations on the use of ultrasound guidance for central and peripheral vascular access in adults: a position statement of the Society of Hospital Medicine.
J Hosp Med., 14 (2019), pp. E1-E22
[3]
M. Lamperti, A.R. Bodenham, M. Pittiruti, M. Blaivas, J.G. Augoustides, M. Elbarbary, et al.
International evidence-based recommendations on ultrasound-guided vascular access.
Intensive Care Med., 38 (2012), pp. 1105-1117
[4]
C.A. Troianos, G.S. Hartman, K.E. Glas, N.J. Skubas, R.T. Eberhardt, J.D. Walker, et al.
Guidelines for performing ultrasound guided vascular cannulation: recommendations of the American Society of Echocardiography and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists.
J Am Soc Echocardiogr., 24 (2011), pp. 1291-1318
[5]
S. Gutte, A. Azim, B. Poddar, M. Gurjar, A. Kumar.
Arterial cannulation in adult critical care patients: a comparative study between ultrasound guidance and palpation technique.
Med Intensiva., 47 (2023), pp. 391-401
[6]
T. Ashraf, Z. Panhwar, S. Habib, M.A. Memon, F. Shamsi, J. Arif.
Size of radial and ulnar artery in local population.
J Pak Med Assoc., 60 (2010), pp. 817-819
Copyright © 2023. Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEMICYUC
Descargar PDF
Idiomas
Medicina Intensiva
Opciones de artículo
Herramientas
es en

¿Es usted profesional sanitario apto para prescribir o dispensar medicamentos?

Are you a health professional able to prescribe or dispense drugs?