ANAESTHESIOLOGY - GENERAL ANAESTHESIA / ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Ultrasound-assisted peripheral venous cannulation in patients undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia: prospective randomized trial
Roman Škulec
1,3
1
Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, Charles University, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
2
Department of Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation Care, Decin Hospital, Decin, Czech Republic
3
Department of Anaesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and Intensive Care, J. E. Purkinje University, Masaryk Hospital in Usti nad Labem, Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic
4
Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
5
Department of Anaesthesia, Pain management and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada
6
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Charles University, 3rd Faculty of Medicine Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Submission date: 2024-09-15
Final revision date: 2025-06-30
Acceptance date: 2025-07-15
Publication date: 2025-08-28
Anaesthesiol Intensive Ther 2025;57(1):219-225
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Peripheral venous catheter (PVC) insertion is a common intervention, conventionally performed using visualization and palpation techniques. It has been reported that the first attempt success rate can be as low as 51%. Ultrasound guidance improves the overall success rate and the success rate of the first attempt. Therefore, we performed a randomized, prospective, clinical trial to compare two different techniques of PVC insertion in the setting of an operating theatre with a focus on the first attempt success rate.
Material and methods:
This clinical trial allocated patients scheduled for elective surgery in general anaesthesia to undergo PVC cannulation with ultrasound guidance (Group A) or to undergo PVC cannulation without the use of ultrasound (Group B).
Results:
A total of 613 adult patients were enrolled. The success of the first cannulation attempt was significantly higher in Group A compared to Group B (Group A: 90.6%, Group B: 84.5%, P = 0.039). The overall success rate in both groups was 100%. The time needed to perform PVC cannulation was significantly lower in Group B than Group A (Group A: 406 ± 200 s, Group B: 301 ± 215 s, P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
We found that ultrasound-guided PVC cannulation was associated with a higher first-attempt success rate than the conventional technique.
Peripheral venous catheter (PVC) insertion is a common intervention, conventionally performed using visualization and palpation techniques. It has been reported that the first attempt success rate can be as low as 51%. Ultrasound guidance improves the overall success rate and the success rate of the first attempt. Therefore, we performed a randomized, prospective, clinical trial to compare two different techniques of PVC insertion in the setting of an operating theatre with a focus on the first attempt success rate.
Material and methods:
This clinical trial allocated patients scheduled for elective surgery in general anaesthesia to undergo PVC cannulation with ultrasound guidance (Group A) or to undergo PVC cannulation without the use of ultrasound (Group B).
Results:
A total of 613 adult patients were enrolled. The success of the first cannulation attempt was significantly higher in Group A compared to Group B (Group A: 90.6%, Group B: 84.5%, P = 0.039). The overall success rate in both groups was 100%. The time needed to perform PVC cannulation was significantly lower in Group B than Group A (Group A: 406 ± 200 s, Group B: 301 ± 215 s, P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
We found that ultrasound-guided PVC cannulation was associated with a higher first-attempt success rate than the conventional technique.
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