Efficacy and indications of transradial and transfemoral approaches for peripheral artery stent implantation

The importance of ankel-brachial index in prediction vascular complications in transradial access procedures

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to explore the predictors of vascular complications (VCs) associated with transradial access, as the occurrence and severity of these complications were found to be significantly lower compared to femoral access. However, it is important to note that the occurrence of these complications still has a negative impact on clinical outcomes. Nevertheless, there is limited available data on the predictors of complications specifically related to radial access.

METHODS

A retrospective case-control study was conducted on individuals who underwent percutaneous coronary diagnostic or therapeutic procedures at Daping Hospital, following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study compared demographic characteristics, VC types, ankle brachial index (ABI), and severity of coronary artery stenosis between the two groups.

RESULTS

We enrolled 300 subjects with VCs and 300 age- and sex-matched subjects without VCs as controls. There were no differences in the baseline characteristics or comorbidities between the groups. Compared to the control group, the VC group has a higher portion of left radial access (6.0%) and previous radial artery puncture history (29.7% vs. 18.3%, p<0.001). The ABI was significantly lower than the non-VC group (1.17  ±  0.17 vs. 1.23 ± 0.14, p<0.001). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, several factors were found to be independently associated with the occurrence of VC. These factors include ABI (OR=0.060, 95% CI: 0.014-0.249, p<0.001), the procedure being performed by junior operators (OR=1.892, 95% CI: 1.314-2.745, p<0.001), and previous access on the same radial artery (OR=1.795, 95% CI: 1.190-2.707, p<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients who exhibit a lower ABI and have a history of prior radial access procedures may be at an increased risk of developing radial access VC. Therefore, it is recommended to routinely measure ABI prior to these procedures, as it may serve as a predictive tool for assessing the risk of VC.

Transradial versus Transfemoral access in patients undergoing peripheral artery angioplasty/stenting: A meta-analysis

Transradial (TR) access has been extensively compared to transfemoral (TF) access in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions, with TR method showing a clear benefit over the latter. However, comparative data concerning peripheral artery endovascular interventions has been limited in the literature. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted in order to compare main outcomes between TR and TF access in patients undergoing peripheral artery angioplasty and/or stenting. Main outcomes included technical success, major/minor bleeding risk, access site complications, hospital stay, death, myocardial infarction, neurological events and other procedural parameters. TR and TF access methods seem to be associated with similar early outcomes in patients undergoing non-coronary endovascular angioplasty and/or stenting although paucity of data necessitates the conduction of better designed studies.