Transradial and slender percutaneous coronary intervention: less invasive strategy in PCI

Although there is a discussion on the outcome between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and bypass surgery, PCI is clearly superior to bypass surgery in terms of less invasiveness. One of the further less invasive strategy is transradial approach (TRI). There have been several limitations such as low backup force of guiding catheters. However, mechanics studies showed that the backup force does not relate to approach site but to catheter shape and size. The other strategy is slender PCI using a 5 Fr or less guiding catheter. The slender PCI has also several limitations, however, some of these limitations have been overcome using new slender devices and new slender specific techniques. In this article, current progress in this field using new devices is reviewed. The less invasive strategy such as TRI and slender PCI may be the future direction of PCI because they prevent complications and improve quality of life.