Optimum depth of central venous catheter - Comparision by pere's, landmark and endocavitory (atrial) ECG technique: A prospective study

CONTEXT: Blind insertion of central venous catheter has many implications. Better options should be sought to perform this procedure. AIM: To evaluate various options for positioning central venous catheter tip. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This is institutional based randomized prospective controlled study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective study depth and position of central venous catheter were evaluated in 150 patients in intensive care unit. Three different methods: Pere's, landmark, and endocavitory (atrial) ECG control were used. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Twoway ANOVA test was applied on SPSS version 16 to test the significant difference between the three groups. RESULTS: Patient characteristic and demographic data were similar in the three groups. The average depth of central venous catheter by Pere's, landmark, and endocavitory (ECG) technique were 14.20 ± 0.69 cm, 12.08 ± 0.98 cm, and 8.18 ± 0.74 cm, respectively. CONCLUSION: The correct position of central venous catheter by endocavitory (atrial) ECG appears not only to reduce the procedure related complications but also post procedure manipulation of catheter tip detected by post procedure chest X-ray.