Ultrasound-guided versus palpation-guided radial artery catheterization in adult population: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

The radial artery (RA) is routinely used for both hemodynamic monitoring and for cardiac catheterization. Although cannulation of the RA is usually undertaken through manual palpation, ultrasound (US)-guided access has been advocated as a mean to increase cannulation success rates and to lower RA complications; however, the published data are mixed. We sought to evaluate the impact of US-guided RA access compared with palpation alone on first-pass success to access RA.