A step-by-step guide to placing a central venous jugular catheter

In animals in intensive care, placing a central venous jugular catheter (CVJC) can be necessary if: peripheral intravenous access is difficult; repeated blood sampling is needed; large fluid infusions or drug administration are needed (especially parenteral nutrition and irritant drugs that can cause thrombophlebitis if given peripherally), and for monitoring of central venous pressure and mixed venous oxygen saturation (Adamantos and Alwood, 2018). Compared with peripheral venous catheters, CVJC have a larger diameter permitting rapid infusion of solutions. They can also stay in situ for much longer (more than 5 days) because of the length, softness and material used. They are commonly made of polyurethane which is the least thrombogenic material available and can be coated with antibacterials to reduce the risk of infection (Bodenham et al, 2016; Adamantos and Alwood, 2018).

The over the wire technique used to place CVJC percutaneously and described here is the modified Seldinger technique (Portillo et al, 2006; Bodenham et al, 2016). For CVJC placement the animal needs to be in lateral recumbency for the duration of the procedure, either under sedation or general anaesthesia, unless the animal is very obtunded. The catheter tip is positioned at the cranial vena cava at the level of the fourth intercostal space (Portillo et al, 2006). CVJC kits come in a variety of sizes and with one or four intravenous ports (Bodenham et al, 2016).