Anesthesia strategies for transcatheter aortic valve implantation by transfemoral access route: a narative review
Main Article Content
Abstract
Objective: To summarize the clinical evidence regarding anesthetic techniques for transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TF-TAVI) and to propose a practical decision-making algorithm.
Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed and Cochrane databases using keywords including "TAVI," "transfemoral," "local anesthesia," "conscious sedation," "regional anesthesia," and "nerve block." Recent and clinically relevant studies were selected for qualitative synthesis.
Results: Based on the literature review, local anesthesia combined with conscious sedation (CS/LA) has been demonstrated to be non-inferior to general anesthesia regarding short-term clinical outcomes while maintaining a comparable safety profile during long-term follow-up. Meta-analyses and registry data suggest modest but consistent and feasible early benefits. Therefore, LA/CS should be considered the default strategy for TF-TAVI. Regional anesthesia (RA) serves as an effective adjunct: ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric blocks (II-IHB) are preferred, while fascia iliaca block (FIB) or transversus abdominis plane block (TAPB) may be considered for severe lower abdominal wall pain or to achieve prolonged analgesia. Spinal anesthesia (SA) should only be reserved for highly selected cases, requiring precise dose titration and rigorous hemodynamic monitoring.
Conclusions: CS/LA remains the gold standard for TF-TAVI. Adjunctive RA enhances the quality of anesthesia and reduces systemic anesthetic consumption. SA should be utilized selectively. Further multicenter randomized controlled trials are warranted to standardize anesthetic algorithms for TF-TAVI.
Keywords
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation, local anaesthesia, conscious sedation, regional anaesthesia, ilioinguinal–iliohypogastric block, fascia iliaca block, transversus abdominis plane block, spinal anaesthesia
Article Details
References
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