NCT06433960

Radial Artery Assessment in Surgical Coronary Revascularisation

A Cross-Sectional Study and a Novel Screening Survey for Radial Artery Assessment in Surgical Coronary Revascularisation

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 77 (actual)
• Sponsor: Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust · Other Government
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this observational study is to learn about how screening tests inform the radial artery (RA) suitability for harvesting and coronary bypass grafting in adults with ischaemic heart disease. The main question it aims to answer is: • What factors influence the diagnostic accuracy of RA screening in patients undergoing surgical coronary revascularisation? Participants will: * Receive an assessment of their RA through routinely used techniques (Modified Allen Test +/- pulse-oximetry, Barbeau Test and Ultrasound examination) * Answer a symptoms scale about their physical experience after surgery

Detailed description

A multi-centre cross-sectional study design to investigate the validity of radial artery (RA) assessment techniques in adults with ischaemic heart disease undergoing surgical coronary revascularisation with their RA being selected as an autologous graft conduit. Patients taking part in the study will receive an assessment of the arterial forearm circulation from their non-dominant upper extremity through multiple observations. Pre-operative observations. Before surgery (in the ward environment after the patient is being admitted or whilst patient in the anaesthetic room) the forearm blood circulation is measured through a Modified Allen Test (MAT) (+/- pulse-oximetry), Barbeau Test and Ultrasonography examination. Assessment will be performed by experienced Surgical Care Practitioners/Advanced Nurse Practitioners/Cardiac Specialist Registrars. These assessments will inform the decision to surgically expose the RA. Intra-operative observations. Oxygen saturation readings are taken prior to harvest the RA. Once the RA is surgically harvested a series of measures are taken through a validated structured questionnaire: the Radial Artery Quality Evaluation Survey (RAQES). Observations at 4-6 weeks post operation. Patients finger movements, cold tolerance sensitivity and tactile/touch perception is measured through an ordinal symptoms scale (Follow-up Radial Artery Harvesting Scale) at post-operative day 2-5 and at follow-up appointment (3-6 weeks after surgery). Bilateral comparison between hands and forearms will be undertaken. A Surgical Care Practitioner will perform this assessment post-operatively. Consecutive sampling will be used for the recruitment of study participants. The minimum required number of participants to test and verify research hypotheses is sixty-nine patients (N=69). An adaptive trial design will be implemented: at quarterly assessment points the statistical power is assessed and the remaining sample size required is updated accordingly. Sample size calculation was undertaken using G\*Power software (version 3.1) using Chi-squared Test and adopting optimal effect size (w=0.4) and power (0.8). Descriptive and inferential statistics will be used to perform quantitative analyses. Descriptive statistics (mode, median) will be implemented to analyse RAQES answers and ordinal symptoms scale findings and cross-tabulation used to record relationship between variables. Data analysis will also include measurement of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values to investigate the validity of the RA assessment techniques. Correlational analysis will be implemented and Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analysis will be used to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the MAT, pulse-oximetry guided MAT and Barbeau Test with the ultrasonography examination.

Conditions

• Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting
• Coronary Artery Disease

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Modified Allen Test	Pre-operative intervention aimed at evaluating if forearm blood vessels (ulnar artery and collateral) would supply an adequate blood flow to the arm if the radial artery was harvested. Duration: 1 minute. Instruct the patient to clench their wrist while the examiner occlude with three fingers the patients ulnar and radial arteries; instruct the patient to unclench their wrist; release the ulnar artery. The MAT result is negative or positive considering in how long the palm flushes: ≤5 seconds: negative MAT; good collateral hand circulation (suggesting harvestable radial artery). greater than 5 seconds: positive MAT; poor collateral hand circulation (suggesting not-harvestable radial artery).
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Pulse-oximetry guided Modified Allen Test	Pre-operative intervention aimed at evaluating if forearm blood vessels (ulnar artery and collateral) would supply an adequate blood flow to the arm if the radial artery was harvested. Duration: 1 minute. A pulse-oximetry probe is positioned on the patients index finger; both radial and ulnar arteries are occluded by the examiner (with three fingers) until flattening of pulse waveform is obtained. Pressure on the ulnar artery is released and the result of the assessment is calculated considering in how long the pulse waveform returns to baseline: ≤5 seconds: negative result (suggesting harvestable radial artery). greater than 5 seconds: positive result (suggesting not harvestable radial artery). (Busti and Kellogg, 2015)
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Barbeau Test	Pre-operative intervention aimed at evaluating if forearm blood vessels (ulnar artery and collateral) would supply an adequate blood flow to the arm if the radial artery was harvested. Duration: 2 minutes. A pulse-oximetry probe is positioned on the patients thumb; the radial artery is then compressed by the examiner, and the pulse waveform is analysed for up to 120 seconds, providing four result patterns of ulno-palmar patency: 1. No damping of the pulse tracing immediately after compression (suggesting harvestable radial artery) 2. Damping of the pulse tracing (suggesting harvestable radial artery) 3. Loss of the pulse tracing, followed by recovery within 120 sec (suggesting harvestable radial artery) 4. Loss of the pulse tracing, without recovery within 120 sec (suggesting not harvestable radial artery). (Zalocar et al., 2020)
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Ultrasound examination of the forearm arteries	Pre-operative intervention aimed at evaluating morphological characteristics (diameter, presence of calcifications) of the radial and ulnar arteries. Duration: 5 minutes. The radial artery is surgically exposed (negative result) when the following apply: 1. ulnar artery inner diameter ≥2 mm 2. radial artery inner diameter ≥2 mm 3. absence of radial artery intraluminal calcifications and plaques. (Vukovic et al., 2017)
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Measurement of oxygen saturation	Intra-operative intervention aimed at evaluating the blood oxygen level in the hand if the radial artery was harvested. Duration: 1 minute. The radial artery is surgically harvested when the oxygen saturation reading (SpO2) from the thumb through pulse-oximetry remains at 95% or above when an occlusive atraumatic clamp is applied on the mobilised radial artery.
OTHER	Radial Artery Quality Evaluation Survey	Intra-operative intervention (validated structured questionnaire) aimed at evaluating anatomical and physiological characteristics of the radial artery and suitability for coronary graft implantation. The radial artery is surgically harvested when its morphology and pathology (diameter, calcifications, presence of pulsatile flow), quality of harvesting technique and surgical accessibility are considered satisfactory, good or optimal. The Radial Artery Quality Evaluation Survey is completed by surgical care practitioners.
OTHER	Follow-up Radial Artery Harvesting Scale	Postoperative intervention (ordinal symptoms scale) aimed at evaluating patients finger movements, cold tolerance sensitivity and tactile/touch perception at post-operative day 2 to 5 and at follow-up appointment (3-6 weeks after surgery). Bilateral comparison between hands and forearms is undertaken. Tactile perception is assessed through monofilaments (single touch). Cold sensitivity is assessed through the use of ice-pack. The Follow-up Radial Artery Harvesting Scale was developed from a verbal rating scale (VRS) questionnaire documented in the literature. The VRS questionnaire was re-adapted to appreciate people postoperative experience with their finger movements, cold sensitivity and tactile/touch perception of their forearm.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-07-10
• Primary completion: 2025-01-08
• Completion: 2025-03-31
• First posted: 2024-05-30
• Last updated: 2025-08-05

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United Kingdom