Sheathless versus standard guiding catheters for transradial percutaneous coronary interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Introduction The sheathless trans-radial (TR) technique is a novel approach that may offer potential benefits over the conventional TR approach. We aim to comprehensively compare and analyze the safety and effectiveness of these two catheter types in trans-radial percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Methods We conducted comprehensive searches across PubMed, CENTRAL, WOS, Scopus, and EMBASE until July 2023. Pooled data were reported using risk ratio (RR) for dichotomous outcomes and mean difference (MD) for continuous outcomes, along with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results We included 12 studies with 16,988 patients. Notably, the radial artery spasm (RAS) (RR: 0.26, 95% CI: [0.09, 0.77], p = 0.02) and cross-over to the femoral site (RR: 0.22 [0.08, 0.60], p = 0.003) were significantly lower in the sheathless group. However, post-procedural radial artery occlusion (RAO) was significantly higher in the sheathless group (RR: 2.30, 95% CI: [1.52, 3.49], p = 0.0001). Also, we did not find a significant difference between both groups in success rate (RR: 1.03, 95% CI: [0.95, 1.06], p = 0.10) and all-cause mortality (RR: 0.41, 95% CI: [0.16, 1.04], p = 0.06). Conclusion The sheathless TR approach showed lower rates of RAS and femoral conversion. However, it also increased RAO. Thus, more trials are needed to confirm this technique's long-term outcomes and complications.Figure 1