Purpose: We evaluated the performance of an encapsulated guidewire designed for single-handed use with ultrasound-guided vascular access (SonoStik) with Seldinger technique, as compared with conventional intravenous catheters placed under ultrasound guidance in healthy subjects.
Methods: This is a prospective cohort trial in healthy subjects in which each subject served as his/her own control by having a SonoStik ultrasound intravenous cannulation placed in one arm and a conventionally placed, standard ultrasound intravenous cannulation placed in the other arm. The basilic vein was used because it is a non-visible and non-palpable vein. Emergency department technicians with extensive experience in ultrasound-guided intravenous access performed the procedures. The first-attempt success rate of intravenous-guided intravenous by using the SonoStik was compared to the standard ultrasound intravenous cannulation in adult healthy subjects. The secondary outcomes including time of procedure, technicians' and subjects' satisfaction, and complications were compared in both arms of the study.
Results: A total of 24 volunteers with a mean age of 22.7 years were enrolled. Four emergency department technicians with extensive prior experience with ultrasound-guided intravenous access but with no prior experience using the SonoStik device performed the procedures. The first-attempt success was 83.3% with the use of SonoStik ultrasound intravenous cannulation compared to 95.8% with the standard ultrasound intravenous cannulation. There was a mean of 1.14 insertions per each successful placement in the SonoStik group compared to 1.04 insertions by using the standard catheters (mean differences = -0.1; 95% confidence interval = -0.6 to 0.4). There were no complications in either SonoStik or the standard ultrasound intravenous cannulation group. The mean time of insertion using SonoStik was slightly longer compared to standard ultrasound intravenous cannulation (143.3 vs 109.7 s).
Conclusion: This study demonstrated that emergency department technicians skilled in ultrasound-guided intravenous access could successfully place SonoStik 83.3% of the time in vessels that were unable to be palpated or visualized. Compared to standard ultrasound intravenous cannulation, the odds ratio of successful cannulation with SonoStik was 0.91 (95% confidence interval = 0.04-17.5). In all cases, the time required to successfully insert SonoStik was less than 4 min from tourniquet application to catheter advancement to hub, with a mean time of less than 2.5 min.
Keywords: Intravenous access; SonoStik®; ultrasound.