External and internal compressions to retrieve a kinked catheter in the right brachial artery.

Kinking of the catheter due to excessive rotation is not a rare complication. However, percutaneous retrieval of a kinked catheter can be difficult. The key to bailout is fixation of the catheter tip. Herein, we present a 78-year-old woman who had this complication during transradial angiography. Retrieval using several previously reported techniques was unsuccessful. We finally retrieved the kinked catheter by fixing the tip of the catheter, using external and internal compressions. The former comprises manual compression on the axillary artery, while the latter comprises deployment of a balloon catheter via another puncture site.