Arterial lines - let's face it who doesn't love them? When you have a truly sick patient these humble and often underrated devices bring so much to the table, precise control of the haemodynamics, assessment of gas exchange, blood sampling to assess coagulation, anaemia and many other parameters. There is nothing more frustrating however when these lines don't go in easily, malfunction or stop working altogether.....

Hi everyone,

This week I sit down with Graeme and Siv to dissect & discuss a great review article. The authors do a great job performing a deep dive into almost every imaginable aspect of their use, including insertion techniques, ultrasound, angle of insertion, length, size, site, construction, securement, and more. Join us and no matter what your level of experience I am sure you will learn something new - I know I certainly did!

References

Preventing radial arterial catheter failure in critical care - Factoring updated clinical strategies and techniques. Anaesth Crit Care Pain Med 2022 Aug;41(4):101096.

*Unfortunately this is an article in a journal owned by Elsevier (in my humble opinion a company not very supportive of open access) and is behind a pay-wall. You can access this through the ANZCA library or your own institutions library in some cases.