Editorial

The hashtag #radialforneuro is a social media trend promoting the use of transradial access for neurointerventions. While radial access is well-established for cardiology procedures, using it for neurointerventions is a relatively new and emerging field.

This hashtag emerged in 2019 and has quickly gained popularity, generating thousands of impressions on Twitter ( Robertson et al. 2021 ). However, it remains unclear whether #radialforneuro is merely a means of self-promotion for physicians on social media or a long-term change benefiting our patients.

Transradial access for neurointerventions offers potential advantages over traditional femoral access, including reduced bleeding risk, shorter hospital stays, and improved patient comfort. Nonetheless, it presents technical challenges such as navigating the supra-aortic trunks, maintaining stability. Additionally, the lack of dedicated equipment for transradial neurointerventions poses further obstacles.

Using  catheters designed for femoral access can lead to higher rates of adverse events as illustrated by Clarençon et al. In contrast, the Rist radial access system has been specifically designed for neurointerventions, and Dr Riitta Rautio shares her early experience with 100 procedures .

Neurointerventionists can learn from cardiologists who have been using radial access for over a decade. We have interviewed Dr. Benamer, a radial access cardiologist expert, to learn from his experience and translate it to neurointerventions.

At the Neuri center we often have visitors. Recently one of them observed me doing a transfemoral procedure and claimed I was a traditional physician. But was I, really? Has radial access become the standard of care? 

I started my radial journey on January 2019 and promptly shared it on Twitter . Four years later, we have to keep patients at the forefront and recognize that there are many challenges to using radial access for neurointerventions. The neurointervention community must improve its radial knowledge. Physicians should no longer be self-taught. Instead, training for radial access should be organized.

I strongly believe that #radialfirst is here to stay and the industry's technological support will undoubtedly facilitate the transition. However, we must not forget to focus on properly evaluating this new technique's scientific merits, as cardiologists did over ten years ago. It’s only with the demonstration of the safety and efficacy of #radialforneuro through scientific studies that it can reach global dissemination.

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