Perioperative Central Venous Cannulation: It Is Time for Action

Abstract

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. yiandoc@hotmail.comI read with great interest the excellent article by Dr. Hove et al. 1detailing their closed claims review of deaths related to anesthesia in Denmark (1996–2004). The accompanying editorial highlights the preventable deaths related to the conduct of central venous cannulation (CVC).1,2There has been a significant lag in quality improvement for CVC since its role in patient mortality and morbidity was highlighted in 1999 by the Institute of Medicine Report To Err Is Human .*It is time for the worldwide anesthesia community to develop and implement evidence-based guidelines, teaching, and standardization for the practice of CVC.To my knowledge, there is no published practice guideline for perioperative CVC, despite the fact that it is a common perioperative procedure associated with significant medical error and consequent serious patient risk. The literature review that would be part of this guideline's development would quickly prove the pivotal role of ultrasound guidance. The discussion points at this juncture are not about whether ultrasound guidance is required, but rather about the aspects of its application, such as the superiority of real-time imaging, the role of a needle guide, Doppler imaging, and/or two-dimensional imaging.3,4Furthermore, there are initiatives in progress that will greatly assist in achieving the consistently safe practice of CVC throughout medical practice. One example of these initiatives is instructive procedural videos available through the Internet, such as the series launched recently by the New England Journal of Medicine .5Perhaps the leading anesthesia journals would follow this example and include not only CVC but all procedures relevant to perioperative medicine. Another example is the development and validation of standardized teaching methods for CVC such as the tissue model technique from internal medicine.6This avenue of endeavor might be a fruitful application for anesthesia simulation as well.I congratulate Dr. Hove et al. on their excellent article, which adds further emphasis to the perioperative imperative to make CVC safe for all of our patients all of the time.Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. yiandoc@hotmail.com