The story of a lost guidewire

Abstract

Seldinger’s technique is widely used to place central venous and arterial catheters, and is generally considered to be safe. The technique does, however, have multiple potential risks. Guidewire-related complications are rare but potentially serious. We describe a case of a lost guidewire during central venous catheter insertion followed by retrieval by an interventional radiologist, and outline measures that can be taken to prevent such complications.