A Nurse's Guide to Caring for Cardiac Intervention Patients
Chapter One
Access Sites of Percutaneous
Procedures
In 1929, Werner Forssman performed the first human cardiac catheterisation by
passing a urethral catheter from his left antecubital vein into the right side of his
heart. Cardiac catheterisation has evolved since then and nowadays is used
in a variety of procedures that vary from investigative tests such as angiograms
to interventions such as coronary angioplasty and atrial septal defect repairs, thus
reducing the need for cardiac surgery.
These can be referred to as percutaneous coronary procedures, as the heart is
accessed by inserting a catheter through the skin into an artery and/or vein, and
threading it up to the heart. Access to the arterial system may be via the femoral,
brachial or radial artery.
ADVANTAGES OF PERCUTANEOUS ACCESS
The majority of percutaneous coro ... read full excerpt from A Nurse's Guide to Caring for Cardiac Intervention Patients ebook
