Strong Heart and Vascular Center

Division of Vascular Surgery

Angiography and Stenting

Diagnosis

You have a condition that may require angiography. Angiography is a dye study of the inside of your blood vessels, and can be used to give us information needed to determine what treatment is necessary (diagnostic) or actually treat the condition, usually using balloons and/or stents (therapeutic).

Today's Visit

We will obtain any laboratory information needed to make an accurate diagnosis and recommend a plan, then discuss your diagnosis and treatment recommendations with you in more detail. Angiography can be a treatment in and of itself, in which case we will discuss this in depth, but is a required diagnostic test before most leg bypass surgery and in some cases when an aneurysm exists.

What You Can Do

Make sure you let us know if you are on COUMADIN or HEPARIN, if you have an ALLERGY TO CONTRAST DYE, or have RENAL/KIDNEY FAILURE.

Other Treatment

Ultrasound is used to make the preliminary diagnosis, but usually cannot provide precise detail and cannot treat the problem. CT ("donut") and MR ("tunnel") scans can provide good information, but both have disadvantages and, again, neither can treat the problem. We work extremely hard to gain the information needed with as much comfort and least risk to the patient, but angiography and stenting remain critically important in this field.

Procedure

You may be asked to take certain medication before the procedure. Depending on individual circumstances, your angiogram will be performed either in the interventional radiology suite or operating room by either interventional radiologists or surgeons (all part of our team) alone or in combination. You will receive sedation and local anesthetic, and an artery, typically in the groin or arm, will be punctured by a needle. A catheter will be placed in the appropriate vessel, and X-rays will be obtained. If the angiogram is for diagnosis only, the procedure will be done, and you will be asked to lie flat for about 4 hours and then can go home (or undergo any planned surgery).

If a problem is found that can be treated at the time of angiography, your physicians will discuss this with you. Most of the time we can treat such problems immediately, although occasionally a second procedure is required. A balloon is used to expand a narrowed artery, and a metallic stent is left in to keep it open. If this is performed, we typically watch you overnight in the hospital, although some patients can go home.

After the Procedure

You will be able to go home the same day if angiography alone is performed, or the next morning if a stent is placed. You should take it easy for a day or so and drink plenty of liquids, but recovery is typically very fast and bathing/showering is fine starting the next morning. Contact your physician if you notice an expanding lump at the needle site (although bruising, sometimes considerable, is normal). Your physician will arrange follow up, which will vary according to the specific problem.