Key result
Ultrasound-guided axillary vein puncture for endocardial leads carries a risk of inadvertent arterial injury.
Highlights the risk of inadvertent arterial injury during ultrasound-guided axillary vein puncture for cardiac device implantation.
Alerts clinicians to arterial injury risk with ultrasound-guided axillary access; leaves open incidence and mitigation in prospective data.
The axillary vein is an accepted route for gaining central venous access, particularly for pacing and implantable cardioverter defibrillator leads, with ultrasound guidance a useful way of facilitating venous puncture. We report a series of cases demonstrating the important complication of inadvertent arterial injury with this technique.
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Smith et al. (2009) studied this question. Ultrasound-guided axillary vein puncture for endocardial lead placement can result in the significant complication of inadvertent arterial injury.
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