The axillary vein is probably the first-choice ultrasound-guided approach for a non-tunneled CICC, on all occasions where central venous access is required for intra-hospital use in patients with contraindication to the PICC.
Ultrasound-guided approaches to veins of the infra-clavicular area are mostly approaches to the axillary vein, and not to the subclavian vein. According all anatomy texts, in fact, the transition between axillary vein and subclavian vein falls at the outer edge of the first coast. Since this coast is ultrasonographically inaccessible in most cases because it is hidden by the clavicle, the venous tract that is visualized in the infra-clavicular area is the axillary vein, and not the subclavian vein. The 'blind' subclavicular approach (as it was used in the 20th century) was actually an approach to the subclavian vein, since the entrance of the needle into the vein occurred behind the clavicle: obviously this technique is absolutely proscribed today.
The advantage of the axillary approach is in its exit site, optimal in terms of reduction of the risks of dislocation and bacterial contamination (provided that there is no tracheostomy).
Unfortunately, in the pediatric age, the axillary vein is not always of suitable caliber for positioning of a CICC: it certainly is in the adolescent, but as one moves to lower age groups, the axillary vein becomes less and less accessible , until it is difficult to propose it in the infant. In these cases one will opt for a vein in the supra-clavicular area (brachio-cephalic, internal jugular, subclavian) and a 'nonoptimal' emergency site, i.e. in the supra-clavicular area. The emergency site in the cervical area should always be avoided.
Especially in children over the age of 7-8, a non-tunneled CICC inserted for example in the brachio-cephalic vein and with a supraclavicular exit site may be an appropriate choice.