Patient preference as well as hospital preference may wind up being the most persuasive arguments in favor of the radial approach, Dr. Bates said.
"There is no question that radial access is more comfortable for patients, and it’s definitely the way to go for people who want same-day discharge from PCI. That’s terrific," and reason enough to favor radial access when it’s appropriate regardless of whether or not it is ever proven to cause less bleeding. Interventionalists are generally more comfortable sending a patient home the same day after elective PCI with radial access instead of femoral access, and that fact alone may be what drives future growth of the radial approach.
"More radial access will facilitate same-day discharge, and that will help save hospital beds for [all types of] patients who need overnight stays," Dr. Bates added. "A lot of hospitals today, like mine [at the University of Michigan], have many days when no spare beds are available. We’re always trying to figure out ways to speed patient turnover. Every hospital wants to grow its volume, and radial access will facilitate freeing hospital beds."
Dr. Feldman has been a consultant to Maquet Cardiovascular and Abbott Vascular. Dr. Capers said that he had no disclosures. Dr. Tremmel has received honoraria as a consultant to Abbott Vascular and Terumo Medical. Dr. Gilchrist has received honoraria from Terumo Medical. Dr. Bates and Dr. White said that they had no disclosures.
On Twitter @mitchelzoler