What happens during the angiogram procedure?
Usually, the catheter is introduced into a blood vessel in the upper leg. Occasionally, we will use a vessel in the arm. The skin is cleansed using aseptic technique and a sterile blanket is placed over you. We then use a tiny needle to numb the skin with lidocaine (a drug that resembles novocaine used by dentists). You may feel a mild burning when we inject the lidocaine medicine, but whatever burns will be numb in just a few seconds. After this, you shouldn’t feel any discomfort. We then enter the blood vessel near the groin with a small needle and exchange that needle for a catheter. A catheter is a very thin tube that is about the diameter of a piece of spaghetti. Using the x-ray machine, the catheter is advanced into the blood vessel to be studied. Once the catheter is positioned, we inject x-ray contrast and obtain x-ray images. Most patients don’t feel the contrast; others report a warm feeling during the injection. The average time you will be on the x-ray table for a diagnosti
