Comparative Safety of Vascular Closure Devices

Abstract

Letters18 March 2014Comparative Safety of Vascular Closure DevicesRahman Shah, MD and M. Rehan Khan, MDRahman Shah, MDFrom University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee; and Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.Search for more papers by this author and M. Rehan Khan, MDFrom University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee; and Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L14-5006 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:In their recent article Gurm and colleagues (1) repeatedly used the term “benefit of vascular closure devices [VCDs]” for several subgroups, which is misleading. Observational studies cannot provide evidence of cause and effect; they can only suggest some relationship between exposure and outcome (2).Moreover, they concluded that VCD use was associated with decreased vascular complication rates, which contradicts findings of multiple randomized trials (3, 4). Although most of these trials may have been underpowered, several meta-analyses have shown that VCD use did not decrease vascular complication rates (3, 4). Furthermore, VCD use reportedly increased the risk ...