Feasibility and safety of vascular closure devices in an antegrade approach to either the common femoral artery or the superficial femoral artery.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of the present study was to analyze complications following antegrade puncture of the common femoral artery (CFA) and the superficial femoral artery (SFA) using vascular closure systems (VCS).

METHODS: A single-center, retrospective study was performed after obtaining approval from the institutional review board and informed consent from all patients. At our center, the CFA or SFA are used for arterial access. All patients were evaluated clinically on the same day. If there was any suspicion of an access site problem, Duplex ultrasound was performed.

RESULTS: Access location was the CFA in 50 patients and the SFA in 130 patients. The sheath size ranged from 4F to 10F. Two patients had to be excluded because of lack of follow-up. Successful hemostasis was achieved in 162 of 178 cases (91 %). The following complications were observed in 16 patients (8.9 %): 4 pseudoaneurysms (2.2 %), 11 hematomas (6.2 %), and 1 vascular occlusion (0.5 %). The two pseudoaneurysms healed spontaneously, in one case an ultrasound-guided thrombin injection was performed, and one aneurysm was compressed manually. No further medical therapy was needed for the hematomas. The one vascular occlusion was treated immediately with angioplasty using a contralateral approach. No significant difference was noted between the CFA and the SFA group with respect to complications (p = 1.000).

CONCLUSIONS: The use of closure devices for an antegrade approach up to 10F is feasible and safe. No differences in low complication rates were observed between CFA and SFA.