Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40108074›Full record

SynthesisCanadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie2025

Local nitroglycerin to facilitate radial arterial catheterization in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Uday Rao, Timothy Phillips, Shripada Rao

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Uday RaoSir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, WA, Australia. udayrao97@gmail.com.
Timothy PhillipsNeurological Intervention & Imaging Service of WA, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, WA, Australia.
Shripada RaoSchool of Medicine, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeWe sought to investigate the efficacy and safety of local nitroglycerin (NTG) application in facilitating radial artery cannulation in adults.

methodsIn February 2024, we searched PubMed®, Embase, EMCARE, and the Cochrane Library. Local NTG could have been subcutaneous injection or topical application. We sought to conduct a meta-analysis using Hartung-Knapp adjustment of the DerSimonian-Laird random effects model.

resultsWe included 15 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (n = 2,370), of which 4 (n = 423) evaluated topical NTG, whereas 11 (n = 1,947) used subcutaneous infiltration. All 4 trials evaluating topical NTG and 9/11 evaluating subcutaneous NTG used ultrasound to facilitate radial artery cannulation, whereas this was unclear in 2/11 trials evaluating subcutaneous NTG. The majority of studies had an unclear risk of bias (ROB). All 15 studies reported NTG to be beneficial. The meta-analysis found that subcutaneous NTG was associated with increased rates of first-attempt success (risk ratio [RR], 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23 to 2.10; five studies; 516 patients) and decreased risk of radial artery spasm (RR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.24 to 0.77; seven studies; 1,519 patients). Topical NTG was associated with increased rates of first-attempt success (RR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.39 to 4.34; one study; 92 patients) but resulted in little or no difference to the incidence of radial artery spasm (RR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.20 to 2.25; three RCTs; 275 patients). The overall certainty of evidence was low.

conclusionsTopical or subcutaneous NTG has the potential to facilitate radial artery access and decrease local complications. Given that the certainty of evidence was low, additional RCTs are needed. STUDY REGISTRATION: PROSPERO ( CRD42022342158 ); first submitted 29 June 2022.

Indexed as

Catheterization, PeripheralNitroglycerinRadial ArteryVasodilator AgentsAdministration, TopicalAdultHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicNitroglycerinVasodilator Agentsnitroglyecerinradial arteryspasmsubcutaneoustopical

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.