To begin, place the anesthetized pig supine on a working platform. Apply an alcoholic disinfectant to the inguinal area and wipe it with a sterile swab. Then apply disinfectant and wait three minutes before placing a sterile fenestrated drape over the inguinal area.
Using ultrasound, identify the femoral blood vessels and visualize them longitudinally. Next, puncture the femoral vein with a syringe attached to the needle and confirm venous puncture with slow-flowing, dark red blood. Insert the wire into the vein and remove the needle while leaving the wire in place.
Then puncture the artery with a syringe attached to the needle for continuous aspiration. Confirm the arterial puncture with bright red, pulsating blood. Remove the syringe from the artery and insert the prepared wire.
Then remove the needle while leaving the wire in place. Using ultrasound, visualize the femoral vessels to confirm the correct positioning of both wires. Next, use Seldinger's technique to insert the arterial introducer sheath into the femoral artery, and the venous introducer sheath into the femoral vein.
To confirm proper positioning, draw the blood from the arterial and central venous lines for blood gas analysis. Next, flush the lines with saline to prevent clot formation. Secure the lines to the skin using surgical sutures to prevent dislocation.
Connect the arterial and central venous lines to transducers for hemodynamic measurements. Insert a pulse contour cardiac output, or PICO catheter, into the arterial introducer sheath. Connect the catheter to the arterial pressure transducer and the temperature interface cable of the PICO monitor.
While continuously measuring pressure, insert the Swan-Ganz catheter into the central venous inducer sheath. Inflate the balloon once the catheter is inserted approximately 30 centimeters, and upon the appearance of a central venous pressure curve. Slowly advance the catheter into the central venous introducer sheath while monitoring the pressure curve.
Once the catheter enters the right ventricle, examine for a pulse curve with a high systolic and low diastolic value. To confirm the placement of the catheter in the pulmonary artery, advance the catheter further and look for a consistent systolic and an increased diastolic value. Fix the catheter in position and connect the injectate temperature sensor of the PICO system to the proximal lumen of the Swan-Ganz catheter.
