BATESVILLE — White River Medical Center cardiologists Qaisar Khan and Richard Van Grouw of Batesville Cardiology now offer radial cardiac catheterization at WRMC. An innovative approach to cardiac care, the cardiac catheterization procedure is performed through the radial artery, located in the wrist.
Cardiac catheterization is a procedure in which a small hollow tube called a catheter is inserted into an artery to obtain information about the heart’s performance, detect blockage or provide treatment. This procedure is commonly conducted in the femoral artery (through the groin area).
The common method of inserting the catheter through the femoral artery in the groin is effective, but it can be painful for patients. And, although rare, bleeding can occur, which can be hard to detect in that area. After the procedure, the patient must lie uncomfortably still for four to six hours until the artery heals.
“The radial-heart-cath method lessens the risk to patients,” Khan said.
With the radial heart cath, patients have less risk of bleeding, minimal pain and a much quicker recovery time, and with most patients who undergo the procedure going home the same day, the hospital discharge time is quicker than the overnight stay normally associated with the femoral procedure.
Khan and Van Grouw have been performing radial heart caths for years as an alternative when the femoral artery is blocked, but in September 2010, the method was adopted as the primary heart-cath diagnostic procedure at WRMC.
“When femoral arteries were blocked in the groin, radial heart caths were a backup. We have discovered that the procedure is very beneficial for patients, the small and sleek equipment is most convenient, and the procedure works much better with overweight and obese patients,” Khan said.
Because of the difficult learning curve, only a handful of doctors in the United States perform radial-heart-cath procedures. About 5 percent of U.S. hospitals have physicians qualified to do the procedure.