Ultrasound Guided Arterial Puncture

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The main purpose of the study is to evaluate whether the routine use of ultrasound guided arterial puncture can increase the proportion of patients who only needs one puncture attempt in order to successfully extract enough blood to make an arterial blood gas analysis, when ultrasound guided arterial puncture is compared to conventional arterial puncture technique.

Official Title
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Ultrasound Guided Arterial Puncture: a Prospective, Blinded, Randomised Controlled Trial.

Conditions
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Arterial Puncture

Intervention / Treatment
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* Procedure: Ultrasound guided arterial puncture
* Procedure: Conventional arterial puncture technique


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Patient admitted or treated in the acute emergency department Indication for a arterial blood gas analysis, according to the physician responsible for the patient's hospital stay / treatment Exclusion Criteria: Patient age < 16 years

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 16 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Ultrasound guided arterial puncture<br>Patients randomised to the this arm has arterial puncture performed using simultaneously ultrasound in order to guide the passage of the syringe from the patient's skin to the artery | Procedure: Ultrasound guided arterial puncture<br>* Arterial puncture is performed using simultaneously ultrasound in order to guide the passage of the syringe from the patient's skin to the artery<br>|
| Active Comparator: Conventional arterial puncture technique<br>Patients randomised to the active comparator arm has arterial puncture performed using the conventional technique | Procedure: Conventional arterial puncture technique<br>* Arterial puncture is performed using the conventional technique<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The proportion of patients who only needs one puncture attempt in order to successfully extract enough blood to make an arterial blood gas analysis |  | up to 1 hour after arterial puncture | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Time used for arterial puncture |  | up to 1 hour after arterial puncture | 
| Patient corporation | Patient corporation is subjectively estimated by the physician performing the arterial puncture. The degree of patient corporation are assessed on a scale from 1 - 5, where 1 is very poor patient corporation and 5 is perfect patient corporation. | up to 1 hour after arterial puncture | 
| Pain Scores on the Visual Analog Scale |  | Up to 1 hour after arterial puncture | 
| Number of attempts before successfully acquiring arterial puncture |  | up to 1 hour after arterial puncture |