No-touch technique for reducing aortic wall trauma during renal artery stenting.

Cholesterol embolism, a serious but infrequent complication of renal artery stenting, may be avoided by minimizing contact between the guide catheter and the atherosclerotic aorta. In this report, we illustrate the "no-touch" technique for stenting renal arteries. By placing a second 0.035-inch J-wire within the guide catheter during cannulation of the renal artery to prevent the tip of the guide from rubbing the aortic wall, we minimize the contact between the guide catheter and atherosclerotic plaques and reduce the potential for intimal disruption and cholesterol embolization.