A survey on complications of Radial arterial cannulation

Background and Objective: Nowadays, arterial cannulation for continuous and direct monitoring of arterial blood pressure has a wide indication especially in cardiac surgery. However, this method is useful but it may have some complications. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of some complications of radial arterial cannulation such as arterial thrombosis, hematoma, and sensitivity of cannulation site. Methods: This prospective study with consequential sampling study was performed on 139 cases who referred to Dr. Heshmat hospital in Rasht from November 2002 to May 2003 and arterial cannulation has been carried out on all of them. The mentioned complications were studied according to observation form and Allen’s test. Data were analyzed statistically by T-test. Chi-square test and McNemar test. Findings: From all cases, 68.3% were men and 31.7% were women. Incidence of radial artery thrombosis on the 3rd day after cannulation was 43.9%, incidence of hematoma and sensitivity of cannulation site on the same day were 38.8% and 16.5% respectively. These complications reduced on 7th day after cannulation to 7.2%, 5% and 1.4%, respectively. There was a significant difference between incidences of complications on different days after cannulation (P<0.05). The findings indicated that there was a significant relation between incidence of thrombosis and time of Allen’s test and also between the incidence of hematoma and thrombosis (P<0.05). But there was no significant relation between incidence of hematoma and thrombosis, but there was no significant relation between incidence of complications under study and sex and also between radial thrombosis and size of artery (Given wrist circumference). Conclusion: Despite high incidence of these complications, they are declining rapidly and no serious side effect is found. Radial arterial cannulation is still considered as a safe and suitable method.