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Vascular closure devices (VCDs) are commonly used in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), despite conflicting evidence of benefit. To examine the effects of these devices, investigators used propensity-score matching to analyze data from 32 hospitals participating in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Cardiovascular Consortium quality study. Of 85,048 PCI procedures, VCDs were employed in 28,528 (37%). The rate of VCD use among the participating institutions ranged from 0% to 83%. Compared with patients treated with manual closure, those treated with VCDs were significantly younger and less likely to have comorbidities or to be undergoing primary PCI.
Compared with manual closure, VCDs were associated with significant reductions in …