Trends in Vascular Complications After Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Via the Femoral Artery, 1998 to 2007

Trends in Vascular Complications After Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization and Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Via the Femoral Artery, 1998 to 2007 Robert J. Applegate, Matthew T. Sacrinty, Michael A. Kutcher, Frederic R. Kahl, Sanjay K. Gandhi, Renato M. Santos, William C. Little We evaluated trends in vascular complications after diagnostic cardiac catheterization (CATH), n = 20,277, and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), n = 14,239, from the femoral artery from 1998 to 2007. Overall, the incidence of any vascular complication decreased significantly for CATH, 1.7% versus 0.2%, and PCI, 3.1% versus 1.0%, from 1998 to 2007, both p < 0.001 for trend. Favorable trends in potentially harmful procedural covariates contributed to the decrease in the incidence of vascular complications, including fewer closure device failures and use of smaller sheath sizes. These findings suggest that strategies to reduce vascular complications can be effective in improving the safety of these procedures.