Echocardiography-guided pericardiocentesis with a needle attached to a probe

Pericardiocentesis with a needle attached to a probe was performed under two-dimensional echocardiographic guidance in 9 patients with pericardial effusion after cardiac operations. The first 5 mm of the tip of a puncture needle for percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage is scratched with a scalpel to give the tip high echo intensity. When the probe is placed on the skin, the direction of puncture at that probe angle appears automatically on the monitor.