A retained catheter in the radial artery.

An 86 year old lady underwent trans-urethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) under general anaesthetic at a local hospital. She suffered from aortic stenosis and the anaesthetist inserted a radial artery line to monitor her blood pressure intraoperatively whilst using a phenylephrine infusion. Her surgery was uneventful and the arterial line dressing was cut off her wrist prior to removal of the line. The puncture site bled profusely and pressure was applied. The bleeding stopped and on examination, a rigid structure was palpable in her radial artery. This was believed to be the arterial line catheter which had been cut when the dressing was removed. There was no vascular compromise of her hand and she was referred to the local Vascular Centre.