Low-molecular-weight heparin in radial artery occlusion treatment: the LOW-RAO randomized study.

Lay abstract Coronary angiogram, a procedure to check if there is any blockage in the heart's blood vessels, is often performed nowadays through a vessel in the wrist, called radial artery. One of the commonest risks of this procedure is the blockage of the radial artery afterward. This could go totally unnoticed; however, it may cause pain, tingling and numbness feeling in the fingers, loss of handgrip power and inability to use the artery for medical reasons in the future. Since there is no definite treatment for this situation up to now, the purpose of the LOW-RAO study is to try to find a solution for this problem. Patients diagnosed with radial artery blockage, will randomly receive for up to 4 weeks an injection that contains a blood-thinner, called low-molecular-weight heparin and is believed to be able to reopen the blocked radial artery. All patients will be regularly followed-up with ultrasounds for a month to check any progress with the blockage.