Ultrasound Guided Internal Jugular Vein Cannulation Using Biplanar Imaging: A Pilot Study

Central Venous access by real-time ultrasound guidance is considered as gold standard and a recommended clinical practice. Internal jugular vein cannulation is one of the central venous access commonly used for major cardiac surgeries for monitoring and administering life-saving medications. In daily practice internal jugular vein cannulation is done under the guidance of ultrasound imaging after general anesthesia before the surgery. Real time 2D ultrasound guidance (USG) during central venous cannulation (CVC) has shown to be superior to the traditional anatomical landmark guided CVC, but the incidence of carotid puncture is still 4.2%. Any improvement that aids in the ease and safety of the procedures needs to be evaluated. Recently USG biplanar imaging can now successfully demonstrate real time imaging in two different views at the same time. Theoretically, this may help improve precision by improving real time needle tip visualization and thereby reduce potential complications as compared to a traditional 2D approach. This study aims to assess the feasibility of biplanar USG internal jugular venous cannulation.