Evaluation of feasibility and safety of changing body position after transfemoral angiography: A randomized clinical trial Sina Valiee, PhD, Mohammad Fathi, PhD, Nooshin Hadizade, MD, Daem Roshani, PhD, and Parvin Mahmoodi, MS Background: Considering the growing number of patients who suffer from cardiovascular and coronary artery disease and the significant importance of angiography in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease, this study investigated the ef- fects of position change on the acute complications of coronary angiography. Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial. Sixty patients undergoing coronary angiography, which was per- formed by a single operator were selected by convenience sampling method and were assigned to intervention or control groups by randomized block design (30 cases in each group). Intervention group patients’ position was changed according to schedule, whereas patients in the control group remained in the supine position in complete bed rest. At the entrance hours, 3, 6, 8, and 24 hours after the angiography, patients in both groups were evaluated in terms of vascular complica- tions, urinary retention, low back pain, groin pain, and comfort. Data were analyzed by repeated measures, Friedman, Mann–Whitney, chi-square, independent t-test, and Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests with SPSS-22. Results: The two groups did not show any significant difference in terms of demographic, clinical, and preinterventional catheterization characteristics (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference with regard to vascular complications including hematoma (P = 0.149), bleeding (P > 0.01), bruise (P = 0.081), and thrombosis in the two groups of patients during 5 consecutive reviews. However, there was a significant statistical difference regarding low back pain (P < 0.001), groin pain (P < 0.001), urinary retention (P = 0.02), and comfort (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that changing the positions of patients after angiography based on the provided program created no change in the incidence of vascular complications (hematoma, bleeding, thrombosis, and bruise) but resulted in reduced severity of back pain, groin pain, urinary retention, and increased patients’ comfort. (J Vasc Nurs 2016;34:106-115) Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death for women and men of all ethnicities and races, 1 and it is ex- pected to remain the most common cause of death in the world until 2020. 2 Among heart disease, coronary artery diseases is the most common and life-threatening one. 3 There are different diagnostic methods for assessing coronary artery disease. 4 Coronary angiography is the golden standard test to identify the presence and extent of atherosclerotic disease of coronary artery. 5 Annually, nearly three million cardiac catheter- izations are done in the United States of America. 6 Angiography involves injecting a radiopaque dye into the coronary arteries un- der fluoroscopy which determines the condition of the coronary arteries and the degree of atherosclerosis. 7 Although the risks and complications associated with angiog- raphy depends on the patient’s condition, operator’s skill, and judgment, any invasive procedure has some complications asso- ciated with the procedure. 5 Coronary angiography can be ac- cessed via the potential arteries included brachial, radial and femoral arteries. 7–11 About 95% of angiography is performed via femoral artery. 12,13 Access to the heart via femoral artery can be accompanied with complications such as arrhythmia, vascular complications (bleeding, hematoma, and thrombosis), injury and myocardial ischemia, coronary artery perforation, hemodynamic collapse, cer- ebrovertebral accident including transient ischemic attack, allergy to contrast media and acute renal failure. 14–18 Demonstration of these complications can be divided in two main form of acute and chronic. The former includes hematoma, bleeding, thrombosis, urinary retention, low back pain, and groin pain. 5 Studies have shown that to avoid possible complications due to arterial injuries, the current method of treatment after From the Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran; Nursing Department, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Medicine Department, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran; Student Research Committee, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran. Corresponding author: Parvin Mahmoodi, MS, Student Research Committee, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Pasdaran Street, Sanandaj, Iran (E-mail: mahmoodi.parvin@muk.ac.ir). Funding: This work was supported by the Research Council of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (grant number 1035/ 31229/14). 1062-0303/$36.00 Copyright Ó 2016 by the Society for Vascular Nursing, Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvn.2016.05.001 PAGE 106 JOURNAL OF VASCULAR NURSING SEPTEMBER 2016 www.jvascnurs.net