ABSTRACT
Despite the fact that manual pressure has proven effective in sealing arterial access sites, percutaneous closure device use has steadily increased over time. Increasing anticoagulation regimens, increasing diameters of devices being used, and an increasing need to free-up interventional recovery room beds have combined to create a situation which now more than ever favors the use of a device to seal large bore arterial access sites quickly and reliably. Percutaneous closure devices fulfill this role well, but this has not been without some problems. While numerous complications, some of which are exceedingly rare, have occurred with these devices, emphasis here will be placed upon defining those complications which have been noted more commonly with these devices, and attempting to clarify the methods by which these complications can be dealt with or, preferably, averted.
