title: Radial artery access as an emerging factor for decreasing mortality in cardiovascular interventions.
abstract: Transradial access for coronary interventions provides increased patient comfort, fewer access site complications, and reduced hospital stay and costs. However, the potential benefits favoring transradial access may be even more than these apparent advantages. Major bleeding after coronary interventions is an important factor contributing to mortality rates and can be dramatically reduced with the selection of the radial artery as the access site. Recent evidence suggests that the decrease in bleeding complications with transradial access may translate into a short- and long-term decrease in mortality in patients undergoing elective or urgent coronary interventions. In the era of complex coronary interventions with use of multiple antiplatelet and antithrombotic treatment regimens, the simple choice of transradial access for increasing patient comfort and decreasing bleeding complications and mortality is promising.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas, USA. cihan.cevik@ttuhsc.edu
authors.forename: Cihan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cevik
authors.forename: Cemil
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Izgi
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nugent
mesh_terms: D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017534:Radial Artery; D012307:Risk Factors; D012449:Safety; D013781:Texas; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors