Verification of intravenous catheter placement by auscultation--a simple, noninvasive technique.

Background: Verification of proper placement of an intravenous catheter may not always be simple. We evaluated the auscultation technique for this purpose.

Methods: Twenty healthy volunteers were randomized for 18G catheter inserted intravenously either in the right (12) or left arm (8), and subcutaneously in the opposite arm.