Prospective Comparison of Ultrasound-Guided Versus Palpation Techniques for Arterial Line Placement by Residents in a Teaching Institution.

Background: Arterial line insertion is traditionally done by blind palpation. Residents may need multiple attempts for successful insertion, leading to longer procedure times and many failed attempts.

Objective: We hypothesized that ultrasound guidance (USG) would be faster and more successful than traditional blind palpation (TBP) for radial artery line placement by residents.