Demonstrate safety of minimally cardiovascular incision by patient gender

May 02, 2025

Snuffbox approach schematic diagram

Professor Kim Yong-cheol, Lee Oh-hyun, and Noh Ji-woong of Yonsei University's Yongin Severance Hospital's cardiology department, and Dr. Heo Seok-jae's research team from Yonsei University's Medical Life System Information Class announced the results of comparing the occurrence of complications at the treatment site according to gender of patients who underwent the procedure through the minimum incision procedure method 'Snuffbox Approach'.

'Snuffbox approach' is a method of performing a procedure through a small blood vessel such as the back of the hand, and has the advantage of reducing complications at the site of the procedure, such as bleeding, due to the low risk of vascular occlusion and easy hemostasis after the procedure.

Several studies have shown that women are more likely to bleed after cardiovascular stenting than men. Furthermore, this study is meaningful in that it has provided practical clinical evidence by comparing gender-specific safety in the snuffbox approach on a large-scale data basis.

The research team analyzed 4,608 people who underwent cardiovascular procedures, including stent implantation, through the snuffbox approach. For the analysis, large-scale multi-center registration data (KODRA) involving 14 hospitals in Korea was used.

As a result of the study, the incidence of adverse reactions at the entire treatment site was statistically significantly higher in women (7.5%) than in men (4.1%), and multivariate analysis identified women as risk factors for bleeding and complications at the treatment site. However, most of them were mild bleeding, and no significant bleeding or serious complications occurred in both men and women. This means that the snuffbox approach is also safe for women.

This study is expected to contribute to the realization of gender-based customized medical care in cardiovascular procedures through the snuffbox approach in the future and to prepare safe procedural strategies for female patients.

Professor Noh Ji-woong confirmed that cardiovascular procedures using the snuffbox approach are also very safe for female patients through the study"However, women are known as risk factors with a high probability of bleeding after cardiovascular procedures, and care must be taken after the procedure because the blood vessels at the site of the procedure are small."

Professor Kim Yong-cheol "This study confirmed that the snuffbox approach is a safe procedure path for both men and women."It is necessary to prepare standardized guidelines to enable safer procedures for female patients through hemostasis maintenance time and drug administration control, and we will conduct continuous research for this purpose." he said.

Meanwhile, the findings were published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA).