Angioseal Groin Management After Left Heart Catheterization

Diagnostic left heart catheterization is the gold standard to assess coronary anatomy. A number of post procedure closure devices have been used in order to be able to ambulate patients after the procedure. Without closure device of the arterial sheath the typical time a patient must lay flat following a diagnostic left heart catheterization at Providence hospital is approximately six hours. This extended time of having to lie flat for the patient is both uncomfortable and time consuming for hospital employees.

The Angioseal closure device is a vascular plug that has been approved by the FDA in order to seal the femoral artery arteriotomy and allow for a faster ambulation time after cardiac catheterization. Currently, the Angioseal device has been approved for ambulation times of 20 minutes after diagnostic left heart catheterization but a more conservative approach is typically used after device. A very common strategy after Angioseal is to keep the patient flat for 2 hours prior to ambulation and then to keep the patient another hour after ambulation for observation of the femoral site.

While a conservative strategy may be considered safer to the operator the Angioseal device has already been approved for an early ambulation strategy. The goal of this study is to reaffirm the safety and efficacy of using Angioseal for early ambulation. If early ambulation is performed it could improve patient comfort and even reduce cost.