Description
Venous access in small children can be extremely difficult or even impossible in haemorrhagic shock or after cardiac arrest. A study of experienced physicians establishing iv access after cardiac arrest showed that in 3-6 % of cases were unable to achieve iv access. Survival is inversely related to time to iv access and under such circumstances 60 – 90 seconds may be crucial to survival. Intraosseous (IO) access can be a life saving method for administering fluid and drug resuscitation in an emergency situation, especially in the paediatric age group. This article reviews this technique.
