Society of Interventional Radiology Quality Improvement Standards on Radial Artery Access

In 1989, Campeau (1) published his seminal series of 100 percutaneous transradial access (TRA) coronary angiograms. Since then, the prevalence of using TRA for coronary procedures has increased significantly, and, as of 2015, the European Society of Cardiology guidelines recommend radial access over transfemoral access (intraarterial recommendation) for coronary angiography and intervention (2). The interest in TRA has been driven by multiple prospective randomized trials, meta-analyses, and retrospective cardiology studies demonstrating significant benefits of TRA compared to transfemoral access (3), including but not limited to: patient preference (4), decreased access site complications in general (5–8), and, for elderly patients (9,10), decreased overall complications and decreased mortality (11–14).