Viable Alternative to High-Risk Central Venous Catheter (CVC) Placements: Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral IVs

More than five million central venous catheter (CVC) lines are placed in U.S. hospitals each year, making it one of the most common invasive emergency room procedures.1 CVC placement involves the insertion of a large catheter into a patient’s major vessel. It is often used for those who have poor venous access where veins cannot be visualized, making it difficult to place an IV without multiple sticks. Due to its high-risk nature, CVC procedures can have a complication rate near 15%, which includes susceptibility to catheter-related blood stream infection or even death.2 Emergency physicians Dr. Arthur Au, Dr. Bon Ku and Dr. J. Matthew Fields developed a study to see if CVC placement for patients with difficult IV access could be replaced by ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous IVs (USGPIVs).