CoronaryEffectiveness of sublingual nitroglycerin before puncture compared with conventional intra-arterial nitroglycerin in transradial procedures: a randomized trial

•Improvement in radial artery puncture time and success with subcutaneous nitrate was reported.•Giving nitrate sublingually may have vasodilation along entire length of radial artery and may prevent RAS thereafter more effectively.•No difference was observed between sublingual vs intra-arterial nitrate in terms of efficiency.•Sublingual nitrate may be inferior in certain subgroups (diabetics, smokers, shorter individuals).

AimSublingual (SL) nitroglycerin administered before radial artery puncture can improve cannulation success and decrease the incidence of radial artery spasm (RAS) compared with intra-arterial (IA) nitroglycerin in transradial procedures.MethodsPatients undergoing diagnostic transradial angiography were randomized to IA (200 mcg) or SL (400 mcg) nitroglycerin. Primary endpoints were puncture time and puncture attempts. Secondary endpoint was the incidence of RAS.ResultsTotal of 101 participants (mean age 60 ± 11 years, 53% male) were randomized (51 in IA and 50 in SL groups). Puncture time (50 [36-75] vs 50 [35-90] sec), puncture attempts (1.18 ± 0.48 vs 1.20 ± 0.49), multiple punctures (13.7 vs 16.0%) and RAS (19.6 vs 24.0%) were not statistically different between IA vs SL groups respectively. A composite endpoint of all adverse events related to transradial angiography (multiple punctures, RAS, access site crossover, hypotension/bradycardia associated with nitroglycerin and radial artery occlusion) was very similar in IA vs SL groups (39 vs 40%, respectively). However puncture time was significantly longer with SL nitroglycerin in patients < 1.65 m height (47 [36-66] vs 63 [41-110] sec, p = 0.042). Multiple punctures seemed higher with SL nitroglycerin in patients with diabetes (0 vs 30%, p = 0.028) or in patients < 1.65 m height (7.4 vs 25%, p = 0.085). Likewise, RAS with SL nitroglycerin seemed more frequent in smokers compared to IA nitroglycerin (0 vs 27%, p = 0.089).ConclusionsSL nitroglycerin was not different from IA nitroglycerin in terms of efficiency and safety in overall study population. However it may be inferior to IA nitroglycerin in certain subgroups (shorter individuals, diabetics and smokers).