Arterial Cannulation for Ascending Aortic Banding in Swine

To begin, identify the puncture site for arterial cannulation in an anesthetized pig. Using the vascular probe, identify the common femoral artery and confirm the position of the ultrasound marker and correct depth. Before assembling the introducer sheath, flush the introducer and dilator with heparinized saline.

Under ultrasound guidance, insert an echogenic arterial needle into the femoral artery. Once the arterial lumen is reached and pulsating arterial blood comes out from the needle hub, advance a J-tip guidewire into the artery. While maintaining pressure on the puncture site, remove the needle, and advance the introducer and dilator assembly into the artery.

Next, remove the dilator and aspirate the blood from the side port of the introducer to confirm the correct positioning of the introducer. Sequentially flush the introducer with sterile saline. Finally, connect an arterial pressure line to the side port of the femoral artery introducer to monitor blood pressure.