[Percutaneous catheterization of jugular and subclavian vein (author's transl)].

During a three-year period, central venous catheterization was performed in 83 children by percutaneous approach through internal jugular or and subclavian veins. Internal jugular vein was catheterized in 62 children, 40 of them were under one year old and 16 were within one to five years. Complications were seen only in two occasions: accidental punction of carotid artery. Subclavian vein was used in 21 patients: 7 or the children were under one year, 7 children were between one to five years and 7 children were over five years of age. A pneumothorax and a perforation of the subclavian vein were the complications of this last group. Indications, technics and complications of central venous catheterization--either internal jugular or subclavian--are described emphasizing the advantages that they offer as compared to traditional venisection.