Background: Palpation of anatomic landmarks is difficult in pregnant patients due to physiological changes. This can complicate epidural catheterization and determination of needle insertion site to place an epidural catheter. The purpose of our study was to compare prepuncture lumbar ultrasonography and palpation method for epidural needle insertion among pregnant. Methods: Forty parturients s...

BACKGROUND The preferred method of treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF) is by catheter ablation, in which a catheter is guided into the left atrium through a transseptal puncture. However, the transseptal puncture constrains the catheter, thereby limiting its manoeuvrability and increasing the difficulty in reaching various locations in the left atrium. In this paper, we address the problem o...

INTRODUCTION Transseptal puncture is required for many interventional procedures but has a serious complication rate of approximately 1%-primarily related to misidentification of the fossa ovalis resulting in inadvertent puncture of other cardiac structures. We investigated the utility of a full color visualization catheter to correctly position and guide transseptal puncture of the fossa ovali...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether postoperative complication rates and speech outcomes differ between patients undergoing primary versus secondary tracheoesophageal puncture following total laryngectomy with free flap reconstruction. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective clinical study in a tertiary academic center. METHODS Between November 2004 and June 2010, 137 patients underwent total laryngectomy o...

Comparison of cholesterol values from venous blood and skin puncture blood is difficult, because biological differences between both materials may be concealed or increased by the preanalytical imprecision of skin puncture. In 12 adults, we studied the variance of cholesterol and urea determination in 8 blood samples obtained by the puncture of 8 fingers and compared the results with the 8-fold...

OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of plantar puncture wound infections. METHODS Ambulatory emergency patients were surveyed with regard to a previous history of plantar puncture wounds and any subsequent infections. RESULTS 200 questionnaires were analysed. Forty four percent of respondents had previously sustained at least one plantar puncture wound. Of 156 wounds, 79 (50%) came to the ...

We report a case of a radial artery pseudoaneurysm complicating a single arterial puncture for blood-gas analysis that was treated with excision of pseudoaneurysm and suture of the defect of wall of radial artery. The puncture for continuous blood pressure monitoring and serial blood gas analysis have been reported in critically ill patients, but, to the best of our knowledge, there are no case...

PURPOSE To examine the hypothesis that lumbar puncture alone may cause meningeal enhancement in the brain. METHODS We prospectively reviewed the brain MR examinations of all patients from a 6-month period who were studied within 1 month after lumbar puncture. We also retrospectively reviewed all cases of dural-arachnoidal enhancement in the brain from the preceding 18-month period. RESULTS ...