A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMPLICATIONS FROM INTERNAL JUGULAR VEIN (IJV) CANNULATION: CONTRASTING THE ANATOMICAL LANDMARK APPROACH WITH ULTRASOUND-GUIDED TECHNIQUE

Central venous pressure monitoring has grown in importance as a tool for treating critically ill patients in recent years.However central line insertion is an invasive procedure which can result in various complications especially due to the puncture of surrounding structures. This study compared the complications arising from ultrasound guided technique versus classical landmark technique of right internal jugular vein cannulation (anterior approach). This study was conducted on 80 patientsof age group above 18 yearsand ofbothgenders,comingtotheemergencymedicinedepartmentofa tertiary care hospital requiring central venous catheterization.Patients were randomly selected into 2 groups each group containing 40 patients. One group of patients were cannulated by the anatomical landmark technique of right internal jugular vein by anterior approach and the other group by USG guided techniqueusing the linear probe. Results showed that in anatomical landmark, majority of the patients presented with carotid artery puncture 4(10%), pneumothorax (2,5%) and hematoma (1,2.5%), whereas in the USG guided did not present with any complications.Hence Ultrasonography is significantly better at avoiding complications during IJV cannulation compared to landmark technique. However higher cost of installation, low accessibility and lack of training in using an ultrasound machine makes its utilisation difficult in smaller centres.