Background Transradial approach for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is gaining popularity due to lesser bleeding and other access site related complications. This study aims to determine the in-hospital outcomes of primary PCI through a transradial approach in a tertiary care cardiac center. Methods Consecutive patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction presenting within 12 hours with symptoms without a previous history of thrombolytic therapy, coronary angioplasty, or cardiac surgery were included in the study. All patients underwent a diagnostic angiogram followed by primary PCI of the infarct-related artery through a radial route and were kept under observation during the hospital stay for forearm hematoma or mortality. Results A total of 180 patients were included in this study, with a mean age of 52.04±7.31 years. Majority (87.2%) of the patients were male, and diabetes (72.8%) was the most commonly observed co-morbid condition followed by hypertension (67.2%). Hospital mortality rate was 3.9% (7 patients), and post-procedure forearm hematoma was noted in 5.6% (10 patients). An increased mortality rate was found to be associated with age above 50 years (7.1% vs. 0.0%; p=0.012) and non-hypertension (8.5% vs. 1.7%; p=0.026). An increased incidence of forearm hematoma was found to be associated with age above 50 years (10.2% vs. 0.0%; p=0.002), diabetic mellitus (7.6% vs. 0.0%; p=0.047), hyperlipidemia (11% vs. 0.0%; p=0.001), and non-smoking (10.2% vs. 0.0%; p=0.003). Conclusion Our study showed that primary PCI through a transradial approach is a safe option with excellent success rates in terms of both mortality rates and morbidity such as forearm hematoma.
Keywords: forearm hematoma; primary percutaneous coronary intervention; stemi; transradial.
Copyright © 2019, Soomro et al.