A Bailout Multiwire Technique for Retrieval of a Deployed Coronary Stent Entrapping a Guidewire

BACKGROUND: Guidewire entrapment during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication. Retrieval becomes particularly challenging when the guidewire is trapped beneath a deployed stent. CASE SUMMARY: A 72-year-old man with severe calcified left main artery disease underwent PCI. During stent deployment from the left main to the left anterior descending artery, a guidewire in the left circumflex artery became entrapped beneath the stent. After conventional retrieval techniques failed, a bailout strategy using multiple guidewires to entangle and extract the deployed stent was successfully performed. DISCUSSION: In selected high-risk scenarios, percutaneous retrieval of a deployed stent using a multiwire entanglement technique may be considered when conventional methods fail. TAKE-HOME MESSAGES: Maintaining a high index of recognition for guidewire entrapment is essential throughout the procedure of PCI. Intentional coronary stent retrieval via a multiwire entanglement technique may serve as a feasible bailout strategy for entrapped guidewires.