A fracture of the catheter tube occurred during the radial artery puncture, likely attributed to additional local anesthesia

Excerpt

A 64-year-old female patient was admitted to our medical facility for the purpose of undergoing follow-up coronary angiography. She received treatment 8 months ago for exertional angina pectoris through percutaneous coronary intervention. Local anesthesia was administered using a 23G needle to insert the 4Fr sheath into the right radial artery. The entry needle (TIF Needle, Terumo, Tokyo, Japan) successfully punctured the right radial artery in a single attempt. Subsequently, the inner needle was removed, and a 0.021-inch wire was inserted into the right radial artery. Additional local anesthesia was administered, and when the catheter tube was being removed, it fractured. The tip of the catheter tube was believed to be located on the wire and to be either within the soft tissue or distally positioned in the right radial artery. Surgical resection was successfully performed. As expected, the tip of the catheter was found on the wire within the soft tissue, and it fractured diagonally at the 10 mm tip (Fig. 1A). Electron microscopy analysis revealed a smooth fracture surface with external scratches observed in close proximity to the fracture (Figs. 1B, C).

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