critical care medicine
How To Do Femoral Artery Cannulation, Ultrasound Guided
Warnings and Common Errors
Never lose grasp of the guidewire. During cardiopulmonary arrest, or even low blood pressure and hypoxia, arterial blood may be dark and not pulsatile and may be mistaken for venous blood. To help prevent air embolism, central vascular catheters should be inserted (and removed) with the vascular cannulation site positioned dependent to the heart. 