What is the largest size catheter that can be inserted into typical human femoral veins?
“French” units are just mm in circumfrence… this is interchangeable with diameter. The issue with femoral cannulation isn’t “what is the largest cannula that you can insert”, the question should be what size is needed, and how big the patient is. Cardiopulmonary bypass can be performed from the femoral artery and vein using 8mm diameter cannulas in adults. The entire flow to the body can be routed through this. Introducer sheaths for angiographic catheters and instruments can be 10 fr., and introducer sheaths for things like Swan Ganz catheters can be up to the 9 fr. range. For fluid infusion, high volume high rate optimization requires the shortest fattest tubing available. The MAC catheter which doubles for Swan Ganz introduction has the best flow at 9 french. There are larger tools available but these are for dialysis and have 2 large lumens, neither of which are as big as the MAC. The overall size of these large dual lumen dialysis catheters is in the 14 fr. range. The question i
