Aims: The vascular closure device (VCD) Angio-Seal is an easy-to-use system for the closure of arterial puncture sites after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and allows for early mobilisation of the patient. However, little data are available about exercising early after the use of VCD's in PCI patients.
Methods and results: A total of 230 consecutive patients were screened. Of these, 45 (20%) were excluded due to the inability to perform exercise testing, or anatomical conditions which prevented the insertion of a VCD. The 185 remaining patients (139 male, mean age 68 ± 12 years) received Angio-Seal after PCI. After four hours, 30 patients (16%) showed a small local haematoma, 11 patients (6%) complained about minor -and one patient (0.5%) about strong- groin pain. There were no major bleeding complications, six pseudo-aneurysmata, and one arterio-venous fistula. Overall, nine patients (6%) showed moderate to severe groin problems. Patients without major complications underwent bicycle cardiopulmonary exercise testing the subsequent day. Exercise testing was performed up to 136 ± 60 W in 176 patients (94%). Maximum workload was 104 ± 33 W, peak oxygen consumption 17.6 ± 5.1 ml/min/kg, and oxygen consumption at the anaerobic threshold 15.4 ± 4.2 ml/min/kg. After exercise testing there were no cardiovascular complications noted.
Conclusions: In patients receiving VCD after PCI, exercise testing above the anaerobic threshold was feasible after Angio-Seal deployment in those patients with no complications after the use of the device.