Peripheral vs central circulation times during CPR: a pilot study.

The circulation time during closed chest cardiac compression was studied using Cardio-Green injected in either the right antecubital vein or right subclavian vein during CPR. Arterial blood was obtained from a right femoral arterial catheter at 30-second intervals for five minutes following injection. Six patients, in two groups, comprised the study population. The arterial sample for Cardio-Green after central venous injection revealed a high concentration of the dye at 30 seconds and an emerging second peak at five minutes. After peripheral injection, no peak concentration of the dye was achieved during the five-minute sampling method. Our preliminary study indicates reduced concentrations and significant delay in arrival of injected agents that are introduced at a peripheral intravenous site during closed chest compression.