Procedure: Femoral artery and vein catheter insertions

These two videos demonstrate the ultrasound techniques for femoral artery and vein catheter insertions.

First, the femoral artery catheter insertion:

Second, the femoral vein catheter insertion:

These are both very similar, since you will be locating both the femoral artery and vein when you perform either procedure. 

Localization of both of these structures is key when performing these procedures. It is important to remember the anatomy of the femoral region. The femoral artery runs laterally to the femoral vein and medially to the femoral nerve as in the figure below.

However, anatomical variants do exist, so this is not always the case. To further help with localization of your chosen vessel, remember that that veins are compressible on ultrasound, while arteries are not.