February 13, 2020

Background: In critically ill patients needing IV access, ultrasound has helped improve gaining access to a set of peripheral veins, located deeper in the arm.  The time it takes to do this however is not insignificant but even more importantly is that once you achieve success, the line can fail due to a short catheter length. Central venous catheters, often seen as a solution to this latter issue, are not without their own risks and complications.  Therefore, a nice alternative option may be a midline catheter. These catheters are not meant for fast, large volume resuscitations because they also take time to place, but also have a longer catheter length which slows down infusion rates. Midline catheters are really about having safe access that is unlikely to be dislodged. This is a great option when you have medications you want to give but not have extravasation occur (i.e. vasopressors, hypertonic saline, calcium chloride, etc.).