Carbon dioxide gas as a venous contrast agent to guide upper-arm insertion of central venous catheters

Abstract

CO2 gas is a useful contrast agent to guide upper-arm insertion of PICCs and may be a safe alternative in patients with renal insufficiency and/or allergy to iodinated contrast material.

Upper-Extremity Venography: CO2versus Iodinated Contrast Material

“…Another indication for preoperative venography is the evaluation of the central veins to assess for possible stenosis, especially in patients with a history of central venous catheters (2,7). CO 2 venography has been recommended as a useful alternative to conventional venography (5,6), and our study results confirm these findings. Overall interobserver agreement was almost perfect (8) for vein evaluation with conventional and CO 2 venography, indicating that CO 2 venography is a reproducible technique.…”

“…CO 2 has shown its value as an alternative contrast agent for evaluating infradiaphragmatic arteries in patients in whom the use of iodinated contrast material is contraindicated, usually because of the high risk of renal toxicity or allergic reactions (3,4). It has also been recommended as a useful alternative contrast agent for venography (5,6), where the use of CO 2 resulted in betterquality images of the upper-limb central veins compared with the use of iodinated contrast material (5).…”

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) digital subtraction angiography: 26-year experience at the University of Florida

“…More recently, CO 2 has been used for venography [26,50,51]. It is useful in the venous system to place Hickman catheters, translumbar Hickman catheters, IVC filters, balloon dilatation, and stent placement of the subclavian vein [44].…”

Carbon dioxide as a contrast agent to guide vascular interventional procedures.

“…The use of CO2 as a contrastagent has been described for venacavographybefore filter placement [16,24] and for fluoroscopic guidance dur ing placement of peripherally inserted cen tral catheters [25,26]. Rees et al [27] have performed three TIPS procedures using only CO2.…”