Comparison of effectiveness of two umbilical venous catheter placement methods

Abstract

Introduction. Umbilical catheterization is the cannulation of the umbilical vessels in delicate neonates. Methods differ in accuracy and it is not always adequate; the most used are the Shukla and Dunn methods. In the neonatology units of El Salvador, a standard method of placing umbilical venous catheters has not been studied, therefore a randomized trial of two methods was carried out to compare effectiveness. Objective. Determine the effectiveness of umbilical venous catheter placement using two methods, Shukla and Dunn, in patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of the National Women's Hospital from October 1 to 31, 2020. Methodology. Randomized clinical trial. The population was all newborns who were admitted to intensive care and had an umbilical venous catheter placed; simple randomization was performed for both catheterization methods. effectiveness is the correct position of the catheter in a single placement attempt. Results. There were 60 neonates in the study. There was a predominance of the male sex (53.3 %). 37 neonates were younger than 32 weeks. 58.3 % presented respiratory distress syndrome 30 were catheterized with the Dunn method and 30 with the Shukla method. Better effectiveness is determined with Shukla (86.6 %) vs. Dunn (63.4 %). Conclusion. Better effectiveness is determined with the Shukla method and more failures with the Dunn method.