Review of the methods to prevent femoral arteriotomy complications and contrast nephropathy in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization: cardiac catheterization and care approaches in Turkey.

Background And Research Objective: There are different care and treatment approaches to prevent femoral arteriotomy complications and contrast nephropathy in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. The purpose of our study was to identify approaches widely used in Turkey to prevent femoral arteriotomy complications and contrast nephropathy in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization.

Materials And Methods: The study was a descriptive study. A questionnaire was mailed to 36 university medical faculty hospitals that have active interventional cardiology units. Twenty-nine universities (80.5%) responded.

Results And Conclusions: In general in Turkey, only manual pressure is used to achieve initial hemostasis at the femoral insertion site, with a pressure dressing and sandbag added to maintain hemostasis. Arterial closure devices are rarely used. In general, after the procedure, patients are required to lie flat with, at most, a 15- to 30-degree elevation during bed rest. To prevent contrast nephropathy in patients at risk, intravenous saline solutions are started before the procedure and continued afterward. In other patients, only oral fluid replacement is used. Traditional approaches in the management of femoral artery insertion site continue, and practices used in the prevention of contrast nephropathy are similar to current practices.