This animation shows how a tunnelled central line is put into a vein close to the heart. Click the navigation arrows below the animation screen to play, pause, rewind or fast-forward the animation. This animation contains sound. A central line is a narrow flexible tube which can help give treatment without the need for repeated injections. It’s used to give medicines, intravenous fluids and take blood samples. A small cut is made in the skin near your collar bone.
This is the entry site. The tip of the central line is threaded into a large vein and towards your heart. Part of the tube is tunnelled under your skin to reach an exit site on the chest. Part of the tube will sit outside your body. You may have a local anaesthetic to block feeling in the entry and exit sites. Here we show the tip of a central line part of the tube tunnelled under the skin towards an exit site. The other part of the tube remains outside the body. The entry site may be closed with stitches and covered with a clear dressing.
You will have a chest X-ray to make sure your central line is correctly positioned. This is the end of the animation. Click on the animation screen to watch it again..
As found on Youtube