Preliminary experience with the Doppler ultrasound guided vascular access needle in paediatric patients

Percutaneous cannulation of the internal jugular vein (IJV) in infants and children may be technically difficult and can lead to complications. Various techniques exist to achieve successful cannulation and to reduce the rate of complications. We report the use of the Doppler ultrasound guided vascular access needle (the SMART needle) for IJV cannulation in 10 infants and young children (mean age 3.7 months) weighing less than 10 kg (mean weight 5.5 kg) who were to undergo cardiac surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. Successful cannulation was achieved in six out of 10 patients with haematoma complicating the procedure in two patients. We believe this is the first reported use of this device for cannulation of the IJV in this patient group.