Skip Navigation


BJA Advance Access originally published online on January 14, 2005
British Journal of Anaesthesia 2005 94(3):296-299; doi:10.1093/bja/aei055
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
94/3/296    most recent
aei055v1
Right arrow E-Letters: Submit a response to the article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schummer, W.
Right arrow Articles by Settmacher, U.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schummer, W.
Right arrow Articles by Settmacher, U.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia 2005. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journal.permissions{at}oupjournals.org

CASE REPORT

ECG recording of central venous catheter misplaced in inferior thyroid artery

W. Schummer1,*, C. Schummer1, M. Paxian1, R. Fröber2 and U. Settmacher3

1 Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Erlanger Allee 103, 07747 Jena, Germany. 2 Institute of Anatomy I, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Teichgraben 7, 07740 Jena, Germany. 3 Department of General and Visceral Surgery, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Erlanger Allee 103, 07747 Jena, Germany

* Corresponding author. E-mail: cwsm.schummer{at}gmx.de Reprints will not be available from the authors

A 71-year-old male patient with liver metastases secondary to rectal carcinoma was scheduled for hemi-hepatectomy. Two months earlier he had undergone subtotal resection of the thyroid gland. Prior to surgery, a triple-lumen catheter and an introducer sheath were introduced into the right internal jugular vein using a landmark technique. No problems occurred during insertion of the triple-lumen catheter, but resistance was noticed during insertion of the 8.5 FG introducer sheath. After placement of the introducer sheath, intra-arterial misplacement was confirmed using a pressure transducer. The opportunity was taken to record and compare intravascular ECG by the arterial and venous catheters before removal. No difference was noticed in the P-wave patterns; both showed a marked increase. Surgical exploration of the neck, recommended by the vascular surgeon consulted, showed that the carotid artery was not injured. The introducer sheath had completely punctured the right internal jugular vein and entered the inferior thyroid artery. A thrill was felt. The management of this case is discussed, with suggestions for best practice. Intravascular ECG was unhelpful in differentiating between venous and arterial placement of the catheter.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.