A Broken J-Guide Wire during Central Venous Catheterization : A case report

Lee, Kun Moo; Park, Dae Sik; Lee, Sang Eun; Kim, Young Hwan; Lim, Se Hun; Lee, Jeong Han; Cheong, Soon Ho; Choe, Young Kyun; Kim, Young Jae; Shin, Chee Mahn

Case Report

General Article

Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2007;2(4):266-269.
Published online October 30, 2007.

A Broken J-Guide Wire during Central Venous Catheterization : A case report

Kun Moo Lee, Dae Sik Park, Sang Eun Lee, Young Hwan Kim, Se Hun Lim, Jeong Han Lee, Soon Ho Cheong, Young Kyun Choe, Young Jae Kim, Chee Mahn Shin

Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Pusan Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, Busan, Korea. aneslkm@inje.ac.kr

Abstract

J-guide wires have been widely used for central venous catheterization with the popularity of the Seldinger technique. However, many adverse sequelae of central venous catheterization have been reported. We report two cases of J-guide wire breakage during central venous catheterization. Venipuncture by a steel needle was easily achieved in each case. However, insertion of a J-guide wire was difficult to perform, and pulling out the guide wire from the steel needle was more difficult, which caused breakage of the core and the uncoiling of the spring coil of the guide wire. The tip of the guide wire was not cut off, and there were no complications. With the removal of the guide wire, weak resistance was felt that which was not supposed to be sufficient to cut off the guide wire. It was assumed that an inherent fault in the manufacturing process of the guide wire could lead to this type of breakage.

Key Words: central venous catheterization, j-guide wire, seldinger technique