Femoral venous haemostasis in children and young adults using the ‘figure‐of‐eight’ suture technique

Abstract

Aim

The aim of our study was to evaluate the safety and efficiency of the ‘figure-of-eight’ suture among children and young adults with congenital heart defects who underwent interventional procedures, in patients with structurally normal hearts who underwent electrophysiological study and in haemodynamically impaired children and newborns. We also reported a novel femoral haemostasis method in patients with a central catheter by modifying the ‘figure-of-eight’ suture around the catheter for haemorrhage control.

Method

Between 2015 and 2018, a total of 100 ‘figure-of-eight’ sutures were performed in 90 patients (48 males, 42 females) where the median age was 12.5 years (minimum 3 days, maximum 22 years). The procedures were diagnostic angiography (n = 6), radiofrequency and/or cryoablation (n = 7) and interventional procedures (n = 87).

Result

Haemostasis was achieved in 89 of 90 patients. Haemostasis could not be achieved in one malnourished patient due to lack of subcutaneous tissue. There were no major complications. A bullous skin lesion and minor bleeding were the only complications seen in two patients. A central catheter was inserted in eight patients using the modified ‘figure-of-eight’ suture technique.

Conclusion

The ‘figure-of-eight’ suture is a safe and effective method for femoral venous haemostasis in patients who require large sheaths for procedures, in those using high-dose heparin and in haemodynamically unstable children who need cardiac catheterisation.

Keywords:

• Femoral venous haemostasis
• congenital heart disease

Acknowledgements

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-profit sectors. The authors received no funding for this study.

Ethical approval

The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national guidelines on human medical regulations and with Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients or their parents.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).