METHODS. We enrolled 201 consecutive patients and randomly assigned patients for Neptune Pad ® (n=100) vs. conventional manual compression (n=101). Patients were followed clinically until hospital discharge and by duplex ultrasound at 24 hours postprocedure for occurrence of access site complications. Time-to-hemostasis and time-to-ambulation were recorded, patients´ and physicians´ discomfort were measured using a visual analogue scale.