Ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous access placement for children in the emergency department

The usefulness of ultrasound guidance in peripheral intravenous access placement has yet to be established in children. In this prospective comparative study, we investigated success rates of intravenous access placement with ultrasound guidance in a pediatric emergency department. After a failed first attempt with the conventional technique, the second and third attempts were conducted using either the ultrasound guidance (a real-time, dual operator method) or the conventional technique. The success rates within the two interventional attempts were then compared. From a total of 712 participants, those with a failed first attempt were allocated to the ultrasound guidance (n = 99) and conventional technique (n = 100) groups. The success rate was significantly lower for the ultrasound guidance (65%) than for the conventional technique (84%) group (p = 0.002, chi-square test). This remained significant after adjusting for confounders with multiple logistic regression analysis (odds ratio 2.60, 95% confidence interval 1.26-5.37, p = 0.001).

Ultrasound-guided intravenous access placement using a real-time, dual operator method led to a significantly lower success rate than the conventional technique in children with one failed conventional attempt in the emergency department.

UMIN000014730 What is Known: • Children experience a low success rate (about 60% with 1 attempt and about 90% with 4 attempts) for IV access placement. • Ultrasound guidance may lead to a decreased number of attempts and shorter procedural time with comparable overall IV success rate. What is New: • Ultrasound-guided IV placement (a real-time, dual operator method) actually led to a significantly lower IV success rate than the conventional technique in children in the emergency department. • Our result warrants further trials to determine the precise population who benefits from ultrasound guidance.