Use of a wire-guided cannula for radial arterial cannulation

We compared the success rates of arterial cannulation with a wire-guided cannula (WGC) and the direct technique with a conventional non-wire-guided cannula (non-WGC). A total of 100 adult patients requiring an arterial line in the operating room were assigned randomly to undergo radial arterial cannulation either with the WGC or with the non-WGC. No significant difference in success rates and insertion times could be demonstrated between the WGC and the non-WGC (78.4% vs 67.3% and 22.6 +/- 13.2 s vs 23.0 +/- 19.3 s, respectively). Among the less experienced operators, insertion time was shorter with the WGC than with the non-WGC (27.7 +/- 11.9 s vs 39.8 +/- 20.4 s; P < 0.05), although the success rate was similar for the two types of cannula. Patient characteristics did not affect either the success rates or the insertion times for the two types of cannula. In conclusion, we have confirmed that the success rates of radial arterial cannulation for patients whose physical status is relatively good were similar with the use of the WGC and the non-WGC.