Massive hemothorax due to subclavian vein tear during internal jugular vein cannulation in a 15-year-old boy scheduled for mitral valve replacement

Abstract

We present an unusual case of life-threatening hemothorax in a 15-year-old boy following subclavian vein tear during internal jugular vein (IJV) cannulation prior to initiation of surgery (mitral valve replacement). Successful IJV cannulation was done in the third attempt. However, we missed the subclavian tear which occurred during the first two initial attempts as there was no clinical evidence suggestive of it at that point of time. This undiagnosed hemothorax led to hemodynamic decompensation requiring high volume and inotropic support to wean the patient off cardiopulmonary bypass. This unusually high requirement of fluid and inotropes required the surgeon to look for noncardiac causes for the hemodynamic disturbance and he noticed a bulge in the right pleura, which on exploration had approximately 1.5 L of collected blood. It was then retrospectively analyzed that the cause of this hemothorax could have been the undue lateral orientation of the needle during IJV cannulation and the advancement of the dilator to its entire length could have injured the subclavian vein. Here, we also would like to discuss the safety precautions to be taken during the cannulation, like the needle orientation and the length to which the dilator must be advanced for safe central venous cannulation.