Rehabilitation Barriers Recognized in a Geriatric Patient after Cardiac Revascularization Procedure

The incidence of coronary heart disease is most prevalent among persons greater than 65 years of age (Fang et al., ). A cardiac catheterization is often required to confirm or evaluate the extent of the disease. Over 1 million inpatient cardiac catheterizations are performed annually in the United States, with approximately half of those patients needing a percutaneous cardiac intervention as a result of the catheterization findings. The use of larger catheters during this procedure may cause complications after removal of the catheter, and vascular access complications are a leading cause of morbidity, cost, and legal ramifications. One method to achieve hemostasis after a catheter is removed from the femoral artery is to mechanically close the puncture site with a femoral artery closure device (FACD) (Hamel, ). This case study describes how the complications of an FACD deployed after a coronary intervention created an impediment to progression of a geriatric patient's rehabilitation course. Opportunities to share lessons learned from this unexpected physiologic barrier are discussed, and consequences related to inadequate information at hand-off between institutions are described.