Prevention of Radial Artery Occlusion After Transradial Access Using Nitroglycerin

The radial approach for a coronary angiography has became popular in several centers because of its simplicity and fewer complications. The radial artery occlusion (RAO) is the main inconvenient and impose a limitation of future use of the radial artery as an access site for catheterization in the future. Several strategies have been used to decrease the incidence of RAO (heparin, patent hemostasis, etc). Nitrates in intra-arterial have been widely studied in prevention of this spasm. Current data show that nitroglycerin intra-arterial at the end of the procedure reduce the incidence of RAO. The hypothesis that use of nitroglycerin at the start of catheterization would have the same effect was not tested.