Closure devices and vascular complications among percutaneous coronary intervention patients receiving enoxaparin, glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, and clopidogrel

The objectives of this study were to explore the rate of vascular complications using closure devices (CDs) vs. manual compression (MC) among percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients receiving enoxaparin, clopidogrel, aspirin, and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors. The Evaluating Enoxaparin Clotting Times (ELECT) study enrolled patients receiving enoxaparin, clopidogrel, and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors when necessary. Any approved CD or MC was allowed post-PCI, and clinical outcome data were prospectively collected. Four hundred forty-five patients had anti-Xa levels measured by a core laboratory and by a novel point-of-care device that reports ENOX® times. All received enoxaparin, aspirin, and clopidogrel, and 75% received a concomitant GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor. Major and minor bleeding were defined according to TIMI criteria. “Any bleeding” included the occurrence of access site complications including hematoma, significant rebleeding, or bleeding delaying hospital discharge. TIMI major plus minor bleeding occurred in 1.5% of the patients who received CD vs. 1.8% of patients with MC (P = 0.83). Any bleeding occurred in 12.2% of CD vs. 5.7% MC (P = 0.02), and in 9.5% of patients receiving GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor vs. 2.8% (P = 0.01) among those who did not. For patients receiving both a GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor and CD, any bleeding was observed in 13.7% vs. 3.4% (P = 0.006) among patients who received neither. While minor and major TIMI bleeding remained very low in both groups, CD was associated with a twofold increase in risk of any-bleeding event when compared to MC, especially when using GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2005;64:369–372. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.