To assess and compare supra-clavicular and infra-clavicular approaches to obtain blood samples from the subclavian vein in cadavers at autopsy

Abstract

The study of microbes in the body of a person after death can be perhaps termed appropriately as Post-mortem Human Microbiology. Microbes can indicate the state of bacteremia at the time of death if the blood samples collected at autopsy are taken in an aseptic way from an appropriate sampling site. The aim of the study was to compare the sampling efficacy of the supraclavicular and infraclavicular approaches for both the left and right subclavian veins and determine the most effective approach among the four options. In this study, post-mortem blood samples were collected from both subclavian veins of 30 dead bodies to evaluate the effectiveness of approaches to subclavian veins. To achieve this, blood was collected from one side of the dead body through the supraclavicular approach and the other side through the infraclavicular approach, noting down the number of attempts which were required to successfully obtain at least 10 mL blood sample which is adequate for post-mortem microbiological examination. The study revealed that the supraclavicular approach is superior to the infraclavicular method. The left supraclavicular approach yielded maximum successful sample collection (100%) and also showed maximum successful single attempt sample collection (53%) compared to the other three approaches. Following recommended aseptic procedures, using the procedure mentioned and obtaining blood samples from the left supraclavicular approach can improve the chances of getting a non-contaminated, adequate sample for Post-mortem Microbiology (PMM).