Alternative vascular accesses in electrophysiological operating rooms: focus on the quality of life in the early postoperative period

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia, the incidence of which increases in parallel with the progressive aging of the population. Atrial fibrillation worsens the prognosis of patients and significantly reduces the quality of life. Improvement of the technical and methodological aspects of catheter procedures leads to their widespread introduction into clinical practice both for the prevention of embolic events and for rhythm control. The need to provide access to the main vessels, more often to the femoral veins, the use of large bore introducers, as well as aggressive regimens of antithrombotic therapy in the postoperative period, bring to the fore local complications of catheter procedures and necessitates to maintain a horizontal position to achieve stable hemostasis. The use of ultrasound imaging can significantly reduce the number of vascular events. However, long-term immobilization often leads to back pain, urinary retention, and infectious complications, which is more pronounced in the older patient population. In order to reduce the immobilization time, many hemostasis systems have been developed, which have disadvantages and require additional costs for the treatment of patients. In this regard, the development and introduction into clinical practice of novel vascular access types to improve the quality of life in the early postoperative period seems relevant. For this purpose, a randomized study is conducted, which compares the efficacy and safety of the distal femoral access, which makes it possible to activate patients as soon as possible after surgery.

Keywords

• atrial fibrillation
• quality of life
• catheter ablation
• radiofrequency ablation
• cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation
• left atrial appendage occlusion
• anticoagulant therapy
• ultrasound
• vascular complications