Revisiting Femoral vs. Radial access-do vascular closure devices level the playing field?

Abstract

Previous large randomized multicenter trials have shown superiority of radial to femoral access in reducing major bleeding, vascular complications, and in some cohorts, mortality Vascular closure devices improve time to hemostasis and ambulation, as well as patient comfort, but have not been shown to reduce major complications or mortality consistently in the high level evidence base. The combination of optimal femoral access and closure with a vascular closure device has the potential to narrow the gap between the radial and femoral approaches in high risk patients, but unfortunately this study was too limited to confirm either non-inferiority or equivalence.