Measurement of Air Emboli during Central Venous Access: Do “Protective” Sheaths or Insertion Techniques Matter?

The newly designed protective sheaths result in smaller volumes of air emboli compared with standard sheaths in most situations evaluated. There was no significant difference in the volume of air emboli with use of protective clinical maneuvers. In some cases, the volume of the air emboli continued to increase during catheter insertion and sheath removal. There was no statistically significant difference between the use of protective sheaths and the use of the sheathless insertion technique.