Management of radial artery perforation during coronary angiography and angioplasty--a report of two cases.

Perforation and disruption of the artery used for access is a recognized complication of coronary angiography. There is an increasing trend toward use of the radial artery for angiography and angioplasty, particularly in the primary angioplasty setting, because of the reduced risk of hemorrhagic complications. On the rare occasions when radial artery perforation occurs, operators have had a tendency to switch to a second arterial access route. This article describes a technique for managing peri-procedural perforation which does not require use of a second artery for access. We show two cases where this technique was used successfully, demonstrating an angiographically normal radial artery at the end of the procedure. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.