Swan-Ganz Catheter Insertion

Important; The catheter is inserted in a sterile environment. The part of the catheter containing the
ports is not sterile. The rest is sterile and is not to be touched. The catheter can only be advanced
within the patient with the balloon up. To retreat the catheter, the balloon must be down. You will be
instructed when to inflate/deflate the balloon.

Required materials:

Swan-Ganz catheter (provided by nursing)

 Blue and yellow ports are for the CVP and PAP lines. CVP is blue, PAP is yellow. These
lines must be flushed when connected.
 The 3mL syringe (B) is connected to the balloon (Ba). You must demonstrate the balloon
inflates properly, an anesthesiologist will instruct you to inflate and deflate the balloon.
You must confirm when inflating (saying “balloon up”) and deflating (“balloon down”).
1.5 mL of air AT MOST can be pushed in.

Clave (A) – must be requested from the Anesthesia workroom, this keeps the port clear once flushed.
Instructions:

You must demonstrate the balloon inflates properly. An anesthesiologist will instruct you to inflate and
deflate the balloon. You must confirm when
inflating (saying “balloon up”) and deflating
(“balloon down”). 1.5 mL of air AT MOST can be
pushed in.

Anesthesia will hand off the catheter above the

sterile field, allowing you access to lines C, E,
and D. Following the image on the first page,
hold only where it is non-sterile.

1) Connect A to C, you will demonstrate to

anesthesia it is working properly by
flushing. Once done, disconnect A from
C.
Figure 1 - Fluid lines to be connected and flushed individually.
2) Connect B to D, demonstrating
proper function. However, leave connected once done.
3) Connect A to E, repeating the step above. Again, leave
connected once done.

After the lines have been flushed, the temperature cable will
have to be connected to both the module and the syringe. A
cardiac output module will need to be connected to the module
rack.

Figure 2 - Arrows pointing to where fluid will secrete

from.
 Temperature Cables for Swans

For a Swan catheter to show up on our monitors, a Cardiac Output

(Figure 3) module will need to be inserted into the module rack.
This can be found in multiple areas. It can be found in the perfusion
pump room and the SICU/MICU cable cupboards.

The cable inserted into the Cardiac Output module allows for two
additional temperature cables to be connected (Figure 4).

The cable from Figure 4

labelled B is attached to A in
Figure 5. The cable labelled D
in Figure 4 will be attached
to C in Figure 5. Prior to
attaching C to D, ensure the
prongs inside of C are not Figure 3- Cardiac Output module
damaged/missing (Figure
6). There should be three
Figure 4 – Temperature port locations
prongs total which easily
slot into D.

Once the temperature cables are

connected (Figure 8), the monitor
should begin to display the
temperatures. Values may have to be
adjusted to allow for them to appear
on the monitor (Figure 9).

Figure 5 - Temperature cables inserted into Cardiac

Figure 6 - Prongs are functional and undamaged Output module
in this image.

Figure 9 - Temperature values on monitor once connected. Figure 8 - Temperature cables fully connected onto
Temperature of blood and injectate along with Cardiac Output and syringe
Input will display.