Ultrasound guidance versus direct palpation for radial artery catheterization by expert operators: a randomized trial among Canadian cardiac anesthesiologists

摘要

The use of ultrasound (US) for radial arterial catheterization has been reported to result in faster insertion times with fewer complications when compared with traditional direct palpation (DP). We sought to determine if this applies to expert operators and tested the hypothesis that, among cardiac anesthesiologists, US-guided insertion similarly results in faster insertion times as well as fewer re-directs, attempts, and complications.