Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015:2015:382624.
doi: 10.1155/2015/382624. Epub 2015 Aug 11.

A Case of Unrecognized Intrathoracic Placement of a Subclavian Central Venous Catheter in a Patient with Large Traumatic Hemothorax

Dina Wallin  1 , Alicia R Privette  2 , Andre R Campbell  3 , Julin F Tang  4
Affiliations

A Case of Unrecognized Intrathoracic Placement of a Subclavian Central Venous Catheter in a Patient with Large Traumatic Hemothorax

Dina Wallin et al. Case Rep Emerg Med. 2015.

Abstract

Traditional recommendations suggest placement of a subclavian central venous catheter (CVC) ipsilateral to a known pneumothorax to minimize risk of bilateral pneumothorax. We present the case of a 65-year-old male with a right hemopneumothorax who was found to have intrathoracic placement of his right subclavian CVC at thoracotomy despite successful aspiration of blood and transduction of central venous pressure (CVP). We thus recommend extreme caution with the interpretation of CVC placement by blood aspiration and CVP measurement alone in patients with large volume ipsilateral hemothorax.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Subclavian central venous catheter (asterisk) in thorax.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ghafoor A. U., Mayhew J. F., Gentry W. B., Schmitz M. L. Transpleural subclavian central venous catheter placement in a child with scoliosis discovered during a thoracotomy. Journal of Clinical Anesthesia. 2003;15(2):142–144. doi: 10.1016/S0952-8180(02)00517-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hohlrieder M., Schubert H. M., Biebl M., Kolbitsch C., Moser P. L., Lorenz I. H. Successful aspiration of blood does not exclude malposition of a large-bore central venous catheter. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia. 2004;51(1):89–90. doi: 10.1007/bf03018557. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Seleem M. I., Al-Hashemy A. M., Al-Naemi A. Ectopic intra-aortic insertion of a subclavian central venous catheter: case report and review of the literature. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 2004;127(5):1515–1516. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2003.11.021. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brunett P. H., Yarris L. M., Cevik A. Pulmonary trauma. In: Tintinalli J. E., Stapczynski J., Ma O. J., Cline D. M., Cydulka R. K., Meckler G. D., editors. Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide. 7th. chapter 258. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill; 2011.
    1. Sanders G. J., Roy S., Graham R. N. J. Tension haemopneumothorax as a complication of subclavian central venous access and pressure infusion. Trauma. 2014;16(2):125–128. doi: 10.1177/1460408613520286. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources