April 07, 2021 For patients with a history of CABG surgery in need of a diagnostic catheterization and/or PCI, radial artery procedures are associated with a significantly lower risk of death, bleeding, and vascular complications when compared with procedures performed with femoral access, according to an observational study. Experts say the new report provides yet more evidence for the “radial-first” approach advocated by the American Heart Association, and hope it will encourage more US operators to adopt radial access for patients with surgical grafts. This analysis confirms such a strategy is used in fewer than one in five patients in this subset.