Evaluation of peripheral vascular function after distal radial artery access for invasive percutaneous coronary procedures

Abstract Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the difference in impact between distal transradial access (dTRA) and classical transradial access (TRA) on vascular function using flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) following coronary diagnostic and therapeutic catheterizations. Methods The analysis involves a non-randomized inclusion of patients undergoing either diagnostic or elective percutaneous coronary intervention, using a dTRA access or a conventional standard TRA. Two hours after the procedure ended, the endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery was measured by ultrasound. Results A total number of 50 patients were included. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (7.20% vs 6.99%, p < 0.09 for non-inferiority). Additionally, there were higher baseline values observed for BA diameters in the conventional approach group. Regarding the other secondary endpoints, there were no major access site complications, radial occlusion, in-hospital major bleeding or severe arterial spasm recorded in both groups. Conclusion Compared to conventional TRA, accessing distal radial artery for diagnostic and therapeutic coronary interventions has the same impact on short-term vascular endothelial function and was safely performed without any major vascular complications.