Post Cardiac Catheterization complications: A Proposed Protocol of Care

The aim of the study was to identify vascular complications of post cardiac catheterization, assess nursing management after diagnostic cardiac catheterization and propose a developed protocol of care to avoid these complications. Material and Method: An exploratory descriptive design was used in this study. The present study was conducted in the Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization Unit at King Fahad University Hospital. Al-Khobar ,Eastern Province, King of Saudi Arabia. The subjects consisted of 105 patients who had undergone diagnostic cardiac catheterization. Three instruments were used for data collection: 1-Demographic and Medical data sheet, 2- An Observational Checklist, 3- Vascular Complication Assessment Sheet. Results: The result of the present study showed a mean age of 51.75±12.00 years, more than half (53.3%) of the subjects were males. The incidence rate of vascular complications was 52.4% , hematoma (45.7%)and ecchymosis (20%) were the most common vascular complications followed by bleeding( 8.6%).Significant relationship between patients' characteristics (Demographic and Medical) and vascular complication of post-cardiac catheterization procedure was found.Also, association between nursing practices management variations of post cardiac catheterization procedure was found to be related to vascular complications