Safety and Feasibility of Transulnar Artery Approach for Coronary Angiography or Angioplasty

Safety and Feasibility of Transulnar Artery Approach for Coronary Angiography or Angioplasty

The transradial approach for coronary angiography and angioplasty is now widely used in catheterization laboratories worldwide, which had been shown as advantages over the conventional femoral and brachial approaches due to the lower incidence of bleeding and other cardiovascular complications. However, the transradial approach does not seem suitable for 5-15% of patients undergoing coronary angiography and angioplasty. The ulnar artery which is one of the two terminal branches of the brachial artery is usually larger than radial artery and it may be as a potential approach for cardiac catheterization. Recently, some reports have demonstrated that the transulnar approach may be both feasible and safe for coronary angiography and angioplasty in selective patients.we performed this study to evaluate the safety and feasibility of transulnar approach coronary catheterization in real world non-selective patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Clinical diagnosis of coronary artery disease
• Needed to perform coronary angiography or angioplasty

Exclusion Criteria:

• Arterial circulatory disease in an upper limb
• History of deformity
• Forearm trauma
• Forearm amputated
• Hemodialysis
• Symptomatic peripheral artery disease
• Raynaud's syndrome
• Hemorrhagic disease
• Cardiogenic shock
• Others who were unwilling to participate the study