Effectiveness of manual pressure hemostasis following transfemoral coronary angiography in patients on therapeutic warfarin anticoagulation.

We evaluated the effectiveness of manual pressure hemostasis after transfemoral coronary angiography in patients on therapeutic warfarin anticoagulation (international normalized ratio [INR] 2.0 to 3.0) compared with discontinuing warfarin > or =48 hours before the procedure (INR <2.0). There was a low incidence of small hematomas with either strategy (no significant difference) and no major vascular complications. No prolonged hospital stay due to an access site complication was observed, and no thromboembolic events occurred. In conclusion, transfemoral coronary angiography appears to be safe in patients on warfarin with an INR of 2.0 to 3.0).