Ultrasonographic Detection of Micro-Bubbles in the Right Atrium to Confirm Peripheral Venous Catheter Position in Children.

In pediatric patients, indwelling peripheral venous catheters are sometimes displaced to extravascular positions, causing infiltration or extravasation. No reliable techniques are available to confirm accurate IV catheterization. However, ultrasonographic detection of micro-bubble turbulence in the right atrium after saline injection has been reported to be useful in confirming central venous catheter positions in both adults and children. This study evaluated whether this micro-bubble detection test can offer better confirmation of peripheral venous catheter positions compared with the smooth saline injection technique in pediatric patients. Randomized controlled study. Single tertiary PICU. Pediatric patients (weighing < 15 kg) who already had or required a peripheral venous catheter. Patients were randomly allocated to either of the two groups (150 patients per group): undergoing either the micro-bubble detection test (M group) or the smooth saline injection test (S group). The peripheral venous catheters were confirmed to be IV located in the final position in 137 and 139 patients in the M and S groups, respectively. In properly located catheters, the tests were positive in 100% (n = 137/137; sensitivity, 100%; 95% CI, 97.8-100), and in 89% (n = 124/139; 95% CI, 82.8-93.8) of the M and S groups, respectively (p = 0.0001). Among the catheters located in extravascular positions, the tests were negative in 100% (n = 13/13; specificity, 100%; 95% CI, 79.4-100), and in 64% (n = 7/11; 95% CI, 30.8-89.1) of the M and S groups, respectively (p = 0.017). The micro-bubble detection test is a useful technique for detecting extravasation and confirming proper positioning of peripheral IV catheters in pediatric patients.