[Peripheral venous access with ultrasound guidance].

Peripheral venous cannulation is a routine procedure. The method is usually easy, however, occasionally it may prove to be difficult or even impossible to perform. Ultrasound can visualize deep veins that are undetectable by palpation and it makes possible to cannulate these veins under direct visual control. Authors routinely use ultrasound for difficult peripheral venous access. In this report they present 3 cases and discuss the practical aspects of ultrasound-guided peripheral venous access. Venous circulation of the arm is briefly reviewed, and ultrasound guidance techniques are discussed with regards to sterility aspects. Furthermore, authors describe a new technique wich they use efficiently for cannulating patients with poor peripheral venous access.