Intraosseous (IO) access, which has long been the access of choice to administer life-saving drugs in case of lethal emergencies in adults and children, is now increasingly being used in newborns. International guidelines for neonatal resuscitation also recommend IO access (in which a thin needle is inserted into the highly vascularized bone and drugs can be administered quickly) as an alternative when other venous access approaches are not possible. The flat anteromedial proximal tibial surface is one of the most preferred sites of adult IO access due to lower risk of compromising critical structures. However, neonates significantly differ from adult population in terms of bone anatomy, vasculature, size, mineralization, cortical thickness and marrow diameter. Therefore, when establishing an IO access with contemporary drilling systems in the newborn or small animals, there is a concern about the risk of accidentally drilling through the soft bone causing complications. These range from harmless extravasations to severe necrosis of the surrounding tissue and limb amputation. In order to enable safe IO access in this age group, the new SVAN system was developed with its unique selling point of a self-stop mechanism of the drill (stops as soon as the medullary cavity is reached).
Project SVAN receives FFG spin-off-fellowship
With the SVAN (Safe Vascular Access Needle) project, a MedUni Vienna invention is receiving funding from the FFG Spin-off Fellowship.