ABSTRACT
Venous access is a crucial part of modern paediatric anaesthesia and intensive care. Despite the apparent simplicity of venous access procedures, they can be extremely difficult in unfavourable circumstances. Various strategies are available to help, including imaging guidance, especially real-time ultrasound, for central venous access. These techniques make simple cases safer [1], and allow percutaneous central access in circumstances (e.g. venous occlusion at, or central to, all the usual access points) where it would otherwise be impossible.
