central venous catheter

central venous catheterA central venous catheter is defined as a catheter inserted into a larger vein, to give intravenous medicaments and infusions or measure the central venous bloodpressure.

Central venous catheter can be inserted into different veins of the body, each of these has specific advantages and disadvantages. Among the most commonly used puncture sites are:

     Internal jugular vein: jugular catheter (iCath)
     Subclavian vein: subclavian catheter (scath)

Other possible means of access are:

     basilic vein
     External jugular vein (eCath)
     Brachiocephalic vein (innominate vein)
     Femoral vein (fCath)

Used only rarely:

     cephalic vein
     brachial vein

Photo credit: BVMed pool of images, source: Smiths Medical Germany