Having Cardiac Catheterization

You may have had chest pain (angina), dizziness, or other symptoms of heart trouble. To help diagnose your problem, your healthcare provider may advise a cardiac catheterization. This is a procedure that looks for a blockage or narrow area in the arteries around the heart. These can cause chest pain or a heart attack if not treated.

This common procedure may also be used to treat a heart problem. It may be done as a planned procedure if you have had chest pain in the past. Or it may be done right away to treat a suspected heart attack.

Before the procedure

• Tell your healthcare team what medicines you take and about any allergies you have.

• Don’t eat or drink anything after midnight the night before the procedure, or as instructed by your healthcare team.

During the procedure

• Hair may be trimmed where the catheter will be inserted.

• You may be given medicine to relax before the procedure.

• You will receive a local anesthetic to prevent pain at the insertion site.

• A healthcare provider inserts a tube called a sheath into a blood vessel in your groin or arm.

• Through the sheath, a long, thin tube called a catheter is placed inside the artery. The catheter is then guided toward your heart.

• To do different tests or check other parts of the heart, the healthcare provider inserts a new catheter or moves the catheter or X-ray machine. For some tests, a contrast dye is injected through the catheter.

After the procedure

• Your healthcare providers will tell you how long to lie down and keep the insertion site still.

• If the insertion site was in your groin, you may need to lie down with your leg still for 2 or more hours. If a suture or closure device such as a collagen plug is used on the artery site to close the site, you may be able to move sooner. This depends on any bleeding that occurs.

• A nurse will check the insertion site and your blood pressure.

• You may be asked to drink fluid to help flush the contrast liquid out of your system.

• Have someone drive you home from the hospital.

• It’s normal to find a small bruise or lump at the insertion site. This should go away within a few weeks.