Clinician Changes Lives with Ultrasound IV Technology

Steve Adubato talks with Matthew Ostroff, Lead Clinician and Vascular Access Coordinator of the Vascular Access Program at St. Joseph’s Healthcare System, about the use of sterile ultrasound guided IV technology to improve accuracy of “needle sticks,” especially in difficult situations, and Joanna Portela, the mother of a young patient, who benefited from this program.

#2586 11/19/2016

Excerpt:

"Hi, I'm Steve Adubato. The next ten minutes or so is gonna be important because we're gonna be covering some important health and medical content that could make a difference in your life or those who are closest to you, and to do that we're joined by Matt Ostroff, who is lead clinician and vascular access coordinator at St. Joseph's Healthcare System, and Joanna Portela, who is a mother of a beautiful little girl by the name of Angelina, who is two and a half as we do this program, and she has benefited from the program that Matt runs now. Angelina is dealing with what particular ailment? She has a rare genetic disorder, it's called Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Deficiency. It's metabolic, it's an energy deficiency. Basically, her body doesn't metabolize energy, so when she eats food, you know, it doesn't turn into energy to do things like walk, talk, systems, functioning, and... So she has had to, since the day she was born, we met her. She's out with some of our producers who can't get enough of her right now. Yeah [laughter]. We were talking to her and playing with her, but she has been poked, and veins have been looked for since the day she was born? Yeah, pretty much. We've gone as far as arteries in her neck, and arteries in her groin, and it's rough, because you don't want to see your kid stuck in places that they shouldn't be stuck. And you know, it's sad. It's very sad. So I'm just happy to have programs like these available to her. So at nine months of age you find out about this program at St. Joseph's? yeah. And this guy? Mm hmm. What is the program? And how has it helped little girls like Angelina and so many others? Describe it. Sure. And by the way, we'll show some pictures as we do this to try to make it come alive. Sure. So vascular... Without actually demonstrating it. [laughter] Okay sure. So vascular access is the most commonly performed procedure in medicine. It's called vascular access? Mm hmm, which is basically obtaining access to either your vein or your artery to either administer medication or to do chemodynamic monitoring. What we've done, and I'm so excited to tell you about, we've perfected vascular access through the use of ultrasound. And what we're able to do is see your veins now or your arteries, and we can guide a needle in, and see it directly go into the lumen of the vessel, the circle which are your veins or your arteries..."