Angiography in Wrist
What is Angio from the Wrist?
The use of the radial artery on the wrist for coronary angiography and PTCA (Balloon) Stent procedures was first performed in 1989. In 1996, it was chosen as one of the "Coronary Angiography" coronary interventions by a clinic for the first time. Later, other heart clinics around the world started to apply this method, as well. Currently, around 500 clinics around the world continue to use the wrist vein (Radial Artery) instead of the inguinal vein in balloon and stent interventions for coronary vascular angiography.
How Is Angio Performed From The Wrist?
Before the angio procedure to be performed on the wrist, the subcutaneous of the patient is anesthetized with local anesthesia. Since it has a 3 mm incision, the patient does not feel pain.
The risk of complications related to the place of entry in the angio procedure from the wrist is less than 1 percent. After angio, the main thing is the process of compressing the entrance place, which a 3 mm is hole opened. Most of the problems caused by the entry place are due to the inability to close this hole well.
Angio Recovery Time from Wrist
Considering the patient's comfort, the things which are a problem for almost everyone such as the need to lie still in bed and to meet the need for going to the toilet in bed do not occur in wrist angiography. In wrist angiography, patients walk to the hall where the procedure will be performed and can return on foot again after the procedure. They can take care of their own toilet needs and do not have to be confined to bed for 6 hours, as in the angio from the groin. In wrist angio, patients are only supervised with normal mobility for 3-4 hours.
After an angio attempt on the wrist, the person can walk home. In fact, the patients can easily do anything they want, provided that they do not strain their arm. All that should be considered is that they should not take a shower during the period recommended by the doctor and before the bandages are taken off.
Who is Suitable for Angio from the Wrist (Radial Angio)?
Angio procedure from the wrist can be applied to anyone except people who have trauma to their arm after any injury or accident and patients who are on dialysis.
After Angiography from Wrist
The patients should not strain their arm too much after wrist angio. But of course they can eat, drink and use their arms for simple movements. It is not recommended to remove something heavy. The aim is to close the opening as soon as possible, even if it is very small. In some cases, if the patients lay on their arm, bruising may occur in the arm. However, this situation disappears on its own in a short time.
There is no need to apply a special feeding regimen after wrist angio. However, if there is a blockage in the veins, a low-cholesterol, low-salt, fat-free diet called a heart protection diet is recommended. It is also recommended to drink plenty of water after wrist angio. Thus, the dyes given to the patient during the intervention can be easily removed from the body.
Advantages of Wrist Angiography
The main advantage of radial angiography (coronary angiography performed from the wrist) compared to angiography applied through the groin vein is to reduce the risk of operation and increase patient comfort. In the angio made from the groin, patients have a high risk of vascular ballooning in the inlet area of the groin vein, unexpected holes in the arteries and veins, the risk of uncontrolled bleeding in the vein, swelling in the groin area, severe pain and problems restricting patient movement. However, in an angiography performed on the wrist, these risks are close to zero. In addition, the risk is much lower due to the fact that the wrist vein is extremely thin and there is a second vessel parallel to this vessel. In fact, even if the wrist vein is blocked, not encountering a serious problem in patients is one of the signs of low risk.
Radial angiography (wrist angiography) is a technique that has found an increasing level of application in the world for the last 7-8 years with such positive aspects. In addition, cardiological diagnosis and treatment methods that are constantly developing today are as follows:
Pediatric cardiology: In children of all ages starting from the newborn phase, it covers the procedures of non-surgical closure of holes in the heart with all diagnostic and interventional methods. Especially in heart valve stenosis, interventional angiography can be performed without surgery.
Electrophysiology method: It is the method by which heart rhythm disorders can be intervened interventionally.
Echocardiography: It is a cardiological measurement method that can evaluate at tissue level and under stress.
Thallium scintigraphy: It is a measurement of the extent to which the heart muscle is fed healthily by the vessels. Stress test It is a test that is performed real-time and provides average value analysis.
Rhythm Holter: It is a method of monitoring the heart rhythm for 24 to 48 hours.
Blood pressure Holter: It is a system for monitoring blood pressure fluctuations 24 hours a day.
MRI device and cardiac scans: They are the examinations for the diagnosis and follow-up of diseases belonging to the cardiovascular system.
Flat Panel technology: Advanced inspections with a special X-Ray system capable of taking images without using cassettes.
