Surgical Recommendations to Optimize Femoral/Iliac Artery Cannulation

Due to its size, location, and ease of access, the femoral artery is frequently used for blood pressure catheter placement. Less frequently, the catheter is inserted directly into an iliac artery. Both of these approaches provide accessible anatomic locations to allow for high quality blood pressure signals with good longevity.

This placement can cause some limitations to the blood flow to the catheterized limb due to the physical presence of the catheter in the upstream blood vessel, and/or the ligation of the femoral artery more distally. This compromise in blood flow to the limb may potentially induce a hindlimb paresis/paralysis in the catheterized limb, and can occur with femoral artery cannulation or direct cannulation of the iliac artery. There are a variety of factors that increase the risk of this complication.

These factors will be discussed within the attached document, along with possible means to mitigate the risk.