Self-sealing, large bore arterial punctures: a counterintuitive new phenomenon.

The human femoral artery can bleed dangerously following the removal of a catheter uring cardiac catheterization. In this study, a modified technique of needle insertion, simply inserting the needle bevel-down instead of the standard bevel-up approach, was tested as a means to reduce bleeding after catheter removal. Large bore needle punctures were made in surgically exposed arteries of anesthetized pigs using either a standard technique (45 degree approach, bevel up) or a modified technique (25 degree approach, bevel down).