Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of radial artery occlusion (RAO) in patients

undergoing percutaneous cardiac catheterization.

Study Design: Prospective study

Place and Duration: The study was conducted at cardiology department of Cat A Hospital Batkhela and Fauji

Foundation Hospital Peshawar for six months duration from January 2021 to June 2021.

Methods: Total one hundred and forty patients of both genders were included in this study. Patients’ detailed

demographics including age, sex and body mass index were recorded after taking informed written consent.

Patients who underwent percutaneous cardiac catheterization were presented in this study. Hypertension,

diabetes mellitus and smoking history were analyzed. Frequency of radial artery occlusion (RAO) was measured

by Barbeau test. Chi square test and fisher test was used to measure prevalence of RAO with respect to comorbidities.

Complete data was analyzed by SPSS 23.0 version.

Results: There were 100 (71.4%) male patients and 40 (28.6%) patients were females. Mean age of the patients

was 53.7±8.44 years with mean BMI 28.6±9.51 kg/m2. Mean height of the patients 167.5 ± 5.11 cm with mean

weight 75.9±11.14 kg. Most common risk factor was hypertension found in 90 (64.3%) cases, followed by

smokers 80 (57.14%) and diabetes mellitus 75 (53.6%). Prevalence of radial artery occlusion (RAO) was found

among 25 (17.9%) cases, most of them were females. Prevalence of RAO was most common among smokers 20

(80%) followed by diabetes mellitus 17 (68%) and hypertension 14 (56%).

Conclusion: We concluded in this study that frequency of radial artery occlusion (RAO) was 17.9% among

patients undergoing percutaneous cardiac catheterization. Hypertension, smoking and diabetes were the most

common risk factors among all these cases. To achieve long-term patency of the radial artery in patients with high

predictors of RAO, meticulous management and close follow-up are essential.

Keywords: Cardiac Catheterization, Radial Artery Occlusion (RAO), DM, HTN, Smoking