Peripheral vascular complications after percutaneous coronary interventions: incidence, profile and predictors

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this study were to estimate the incidence of peripheral vascular complications and to determine the predictors of these complications after percutaneous coronary interventions. The study included 100 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary interventions in the period from December 1998 to May 1999; the mean age of these patients was 52.46 +/- 7.76 years and 85% of the patients were males. Duplex scan was done for all patients suspected to have peripheral vascular complications. Age, gender, cardiovascular risk factors, duration and nature of the procedure, sheath size, platelets count, dose of heparin, ACT and aPTT were examined to determine their power to predict peripheral vascular complications. Peripheral vascular complications occurred in ten patients including hematoma formation in three patients [large in one patient, moderate in one patient and small in one patient], pseudoaneurysms in three patients, arterial dissection in three patients and thrombotic occlusion of the external iliac artery in one patient. Three patients underwent surgical repair of these complications. Only thrombocytopenia and aPTT were found to increase the risk of these peripheral vascular complications