Acute Kidney Injury Post Cardiac Catheterization: Does Vascular Access Route Matter?

BACKGROUND: Acute Kidney Injury as a complication of cardiac catheterization is associated with increased length of hospital stay and mortality. In recent years, the use of the radial artery for cardiac catheterization is increasing in frequency. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this concise review was to evaluate the method of cardiac access site and its impact on Acute Kidney Injury following cardiac catheterization. METHODS: After a thorough search on Medline, Google Scholar and PubMed, we included all the literature relevant to Acute kidney injury following transradial and transfemoral cardiac catheterization. RESULTS: While acute kidney injury was caused due to a variety of reasons, it was important to consider each case on an individual basis. We found a trend towards increased use of transradial approach in patients at high risk of developing kidney injury. However, limitations such as operator experience, anatomical challenges and so on do exist with this approach. CONCLUSION: Transradial access offers several advantages to a patient at high risk of acute kidney injury undergoing cardiac catheterization. Further large studies are needed to establish this trend in the years ahead.