310 - Workflow Impact of Anesthesia Strategy and Access Route in Genicular Artery Embolization: A 12-Month Single-Center Retrospective Analysis

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

12:00 PM - 12:09 PM ET

Presenting Author(s)

MI

Mahee Islam, MD

Resident Physician
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, United States

Author/Co-author(s)

Jasmine Lee (she/her/hers)

Medical Student
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, United States
SS

Sakib Safi, MD

MD
Rutgers/NJMS, United States
AA

Ahmad Amer, MD

Radiology Resident Physician
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, United States
PS

Pratik A. Shukla, MD

Associate Professor of Interventional Radiology
Rutgers - New Jersey Medical School, United States
Abhishek Kumar, MD

Division Chief of Vascular and Interventional Radiology
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, United States

Purpose: To compare local anesthesia vs moderate (fentanyl-based) and deep sedation for genicular artery embolization (GAE), assess associations with BMI, and evaluate the effect of access route (contralateral common femoral vs ipsilateral) on procedure duration and discharge times.

Materials and Methods: Single-center retrospective review of 35 consecutive GAE procedures over 12 months. Primary exposures were sedation type (local anesthetic vs moderate or deep sedation) and access route (contralateral vs ipsilateral common femoral, superficial femoral or dorsalis pedis artery). Outcomes were procedure duration and post-procedure discharge time; BMI was analyzed for correlation and association with sedation choice. Group differences were tested with Welch’s t-tests and Mann-Whitney U, correlations with Spearman ρ, and exploratory models with logistic and linear regression.

Results: Local anesthetic was used for 28/35 patients (80%) while moderate or deep sedation was used for 7/35 patients (20%). Procedure duration was found to be significantly longer with the use of sedation (95 minutes, CI 58.75 – 110) than with local anesthetic (50 minutes, CI 45 – 61.5) (U=22.5, p< 0.001). Fluoroscopic time (15.8 vs 14.1 minutes; U=78.5, p=0.43) and discharge time (268 vs 275 min; U=83.5, p=0.647) did not differ. Contralateral access had longer procedure duration (90 minutes, CI 63 – 97.5) than ipsilateral (61.6 minutes, CI 45 – 60; U=32.5, p=0.007). Fluoroscopy time was longer in cases utilizing contralateral access (21.1 minutes, CI 16.4 – 25.25) instead of ipsilateral access (13.1 minutes, CI 11.2 – 16.9) (U=21, p< 0.001).

BMI was found to be positively correlated with increased fluoroscopy time (ρ=0.349, p=0.040). However, BMI showed no correlation with case duration (ρ=0.150, p=0.389) or discharge time (ρ=0.130, p=0.464). Similarly, no statistically significant differences in BMI were seen between patients who received local anesthetic (29.9, CI 25.8 – 36.96) vs moderate/deep sedation (31.15, CI 27.77 – 45.85) (U=72, p=0.283).

Sedation type had a significant multivariate effect on procedural outcomes (Λ= 0.321, F(3, 23) = 0.509, p< .001). However, subsequent univariate analyses showed only significant differences in procedural time (p=0.001), but not fluoroscopy time (p=0.909) or discharge time (p=0.706).

Conclusion: Contralateral access and the type of sedation used are associated with longer procedure times. Fluoroscopy time is longer in patients with higher BMI and those who undergo contralateral access. Sedation type, access site and BMI do not prolong discharge time.