Cardiac Tamponade From Central Venous Catheters

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Abstract
• The widespread use of the central venous catheter to monitor right-sided cardiac preload pressures has improved the care of many critically ill patients. Although complications from such catheters are rare, cardiac tamponade is an occasionally fatal one that is often not considered early enough following its occurrence to allow diagnosis and correction. We studied the probable cause of the complication, the means for avoiding it, and identified the early signs of its development. (Arch Surg 1982;117:965-967)