. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Jan 9.

Published in final edited form as: Am Heart J. 2013 Mar;165(3):10.1016/j.ahj.2012.09.008. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2012.09.008

Table I.

Clinical equipoise for a RCT of vascular access in women

Favors radial approach	Favors femoral approach
• Females are at higher risk for bleeding after PCI²¹	• Females have smaller radial arteries, which may contribute to procedural failure (more prone to spasm, may not accommodate 6F systems)
• Females are at higher risk for vascular complications after PCI²¹	• Females have higher rates of radial artery occlusion⁴⁷
• Females are more likely to receive overdosing of antithrombotic medications²⁵	• Females have higher rates of hematoma after radial PCI³¹