PurposeTo examine the short-term complications of arterial cannulation for intraoperative monitoring and their related risk factors.MethodsWe included adult inpatients (≥ 18 years old) who underwent an initial transradial access (TRA) cannulation and were scheduled for general surgery between April 8 and November 30, 2020. We used 20G arterial puncture needles for puncturing and manual compression for hemostasis. Demographic, clinical, surgical, anesthetic, and laboratory data were extracted from electronic medical records. Vascular, neurologic, and infectious complications of TRA cannulation were recorded and analyzed. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors related to TRA cannulation for intraoperative monitoring.ResultsAmong 509 included patients, 174 developed TRA cannulation-related complications. Puncture site bleeding/hematoma and median nerve injury were observed in 158 (31.0%) and 16 (3.1%) patients, respectively. No patient developed cannula-related infections. Logistic regression analysis revealed increased odds of puncture site bleeding/hematoma in women (odds ratio 4.49, 95% CI 2.73–7.36;P< 0.001) and patients who received intraoperative red blood cell (RBC) suspension transfusion ≥ 4U (odds ratio 5.26, 95% CI 1.41–19.57;P= 0.01). No risk factors for nerve injury were identified.ConclusionBleeding/hematoma were a common complication of TRA cannulation for intraoperative hemodynamic monitoring during general surgery. Median nerve injury may be an under recognized complication. Female sex and extensive intraoperative RBC transfusion are associated with an increased risk of bleeding/hematoma; however, the risk factors for nerve injury remain unclear.Trial registrationThe study protocol was registered athttps://www.chictr.org.cn(ChiCTR1900025140).