What's the Problem?

Many of our patient's need intravenous therapy but have great difficulty getting venous access, often having their arm or hand stuck multiple times in attempt at cannulation. We often categorize these as Difficult Venous Access (DVA) patients.

Think of the last time a co-worker asked your help starting an IV Catheter

Did the patient's arm look like this? I'm guessing no! Unfortunately, our patients rarely present with these kind of veins to chronic illness and multiple IV therapy regimens. This isn't our typical DVA patient. We typically see these arms below:
  • Visualization Obscured
  • Burns
  • Fistula

What's the Solution?

For each of the scenarios describe above, the correct answer is - IT DEPENDS.  There are so many variables that could describe:  Choosing different vascular access device, Inserting an IV, or Not even making a vascular access attempt  

BUT - if you do choose to place an IV for our DVA patients, ultrasound guidance (USG) can be a great answer by using real-time observation to successfully insert intravenous catheters.  Ultrasound machines can visualize veins much deeper than infra-red, allowing the inserter to watch the needle tip advance through tissue and puncture the vein.  When properly trained, venous cannulation is much more successful.  

Course Outline

Course includes the 10 Modules below:

  • 1

    USG PIV I: Instructional Course (ONLINE ONLY)

    • 1. Introduction

    • 2. Patient Assessment

    • 3. Equipment & Biomechanics

    • 4. Vascular Assessment

    • 5. Pre-Insertion Tips

    • 6. Insertion & Finding the Tip

    • 7. Needle Assessment

    • 8. Catheter Advancement

    • 9. Complications

    • 10. Final Tips

    • Final Exam