A patient will lie on an X-ray table with safety straps fastened across the chest and legs.
An IV line will be inserted into their veins to administrate any needed medications and sedatives. A patient should be sleepy to be relaxed, but still able to listen and follow the health care team instructions.
Some medical devices will be there to measure the patient’s vital signs, such as a blood pressure cuff, oximeter, and chest electrodes.
The area where the catheter will be injected is shaved, if needed. It will be washed, disinfected, and numbed.
The catheter will be inserted into the blood vessesl using a sheath through a small incision to reach the heart.
This patient are not supposed to be in pain or uncomfortable.
A dye will be injected through the catheter to be easily seen on X-ray images.
Then, the doctor will notice if there is any blockage, and will decide if the case nedds an extra catheter procedure to open up the artery, such as a balloon angioplasty or a stent placement.
The doctor or decision maker may need some additional noninvasive tests to confirm the need for more invasion.
The whole process may take around one hour unless there was more procedures combined with the angiogram.