Endovascular repair of a brachio-cephalic trunk injury due to inadvertent central venous catheter insertion

Abstract

Central venous access including catheter insertion is routinely practised in emergency and elective situations. We report a case of inadvertent brachio-cephalic trunk catheterisation in a 53-year-old woman during an attempt to insert a right subclavian vein catheter and describe the endovascular management with a covered stent. Although there have been previous reports of inadvertent arterial puncture during subclavian venous catheterisation, these have been of the subclavian artery. To our knowledge inadvertent brachio-cephalic arterial puncture and endovascular repair has not been previously reported.