title: [Comparison of usefulness of the dorsal branch of the radial artery with the radial artery for arterial cannulation].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The radial artery cannulation is often associated with damped arterial waveforms with the hand moving. We used cannulation of the dorsal branch of the radial artery (DRA) and compared the stability of measurement, safety and complications with those of the radial artery(RA).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was a prospective single-blinded comparative study. Seventy-six patients undergoing general anesthesia requiring arterial cannulation were included. Patients were divided randomly into two separate groups of 35 patients each according to cannulation site: the radial artery (RA group) or the dorsal branch of the radial artery (DRA group). After induction of general anesthesia, cannulation was performed. Three hours after the successful cannulation, the changes of waveforms were noted with the hand moving. We examined whether there were any complications around the cannulation site after cannula removal.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With the wrist flexion at all angles (30, 60 and 90 degrees), the frequency of worsening of arterial waveforms was significantly higher in RA group compared with DRA group. Some difficulties in catheter placement were observed in DRA group. No concomitant complication was noticed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Arterial line monitoring from DRA had better waveforms compared with RA monitoring without any complications.
authors.affiliation: Division of Anesthesia, Asahikawa Redcross Hospital, Asahikawa.
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Saori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Hikaru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Shinzo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sumita
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D002406:Catheterization, Peripheral / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017534:Radial Artery; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014953:Wrist / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult