comparative study of periarterial infiltration of nitroglycerine with lignocaine vs lignocaine alone for ultrasound guided radial artery cannulation in icu patients

Background: radial arterial cannulation is a commonly done procedure in icu. multiple cannulation attempts can lead to radial artery spasm resulting in low pulse volume, decreased pulse palpability and cannulation failure. this study evaluates the effects of periarterial nitroglycerine infiltration with lignocaine vs lignocaine alone in usg guided radial artery cannulation in icu patients. methods: a total of 60 icu patients in age group 18-65 years who required radial artery cannulation for abg analysis and invasive blood pressure monitoring were enrolled. they were randomly allocated to group ln (periarterial infiltration with 0.2ml nitroglycerine+0.8 ml lignocaine 2%) and group l (periarterial infiltration with 1ml of lignocaine 2%) of 30 patient each. both groups were compared with respect to radial artery dimensions before and after infiltration of drug, pulse palpability score, no of attempts, time of cannulation and failure rates. results: there was significantly greater increase in radial artery dimensions in group ln as compared to group l after intervention. pulse palpability score was also better in group ln. mean time required for cannulation, number of attempts and insertion failure were significantly lesser in group ln as compared to another group. no hemodynamic adverse effect was reported in either group. conclusion: periarterial infiltration with lignocaine and nitroglycerine combination increase radial artery dimension with improved cannulation success rate.