Ever Had An Angiogram?

[vernonk]

If so, precisely where do they give you the jab? How painful is that? What do you wear to cover your privates? How much of the procedure do you feel and what's that like? how sore or bad do you feel after? Can you walk normally after?

[Buenchico]

See here:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Angiography/Pages/How-is-it-performed.aspx

[Sqad]

I assume that you mean a coronary angiogram.
Yes....I have.

It is usually performed through the femoral artery...in the groin OR much less commonly i the radial artery, the wrist.

You are completely covered except for the leg and lower part of the abdomen on the side in which the cannula will be inserted.
Alittle almost imperceptible prick in the groin is all you will feel throughout the whole procedure.
It is said that when the dye is inserted you feel some "warmth" in the chest....I didn't.

After the cannula is removed from the groin, your lower abdomen is

you will stay for at least 6 hours OR overnight.

That's it.

[vernonk]

Please can you complete your penultimate sentence. It stopped suddenly

[DaisyNonna]

Imperceptible prick? What if you are female?

[Sqad]

LOl...sorry...don't know why.

is compressed by hand in case there is any internal bleeding......which is very unlikely.

[hollie1586]

I was just going to ask something about angiogram too. My gran had one this morning and although they found 2 slight narrowings to the arteries, they said that she wouldn't need angioplasty and they will put her on medication but I was wondering what medication and what will it do for her? Would it be warfarin?

[Sqad]

Daisy..then you get a choice if you are private...a perceptible prick or an imperceptible prick.

If you are NHS then it will be an imperceptible prick.

[hollie1586]

...by the way, she didn't feel a thing, watched what was happening on a screen and found it fascinating!

[Sqad]

Well.....if one artery is blocked, a stent is inserted there and then.

if more than one artery is affected, then bypass surgery needs to be planned.

In you gran's case hollie, there would be a reason why bypass surgery would not be considered and she would be put on,statins and probably what is known as an ACE inhibitor which would reduce the workload on the heart.

I doubt very much that she would be put on warfarin, but she would be put on aspirin.

[vernonk]

When they keep you in for hours afterwards, what part of you are they needing to recover - your heart, the wound or what?

[Sqad]

vernok........firstly, the want to make sure that the groin is not bleeding and secondly they want to make sure that your hear is in normal rhythm.A very small proportion of patients undergoing coronary angioplasty develop an arrythmia...less than 1%........but if it does occur it needs instant treatment.

[askyourgran]

Mrask has had two angiograms, one in his groin when he had a stent put in his artery, and the last one in the back of his hand when he had a blood clot cleared in his neck, which was much easier to cope with.

[Sqad]

I'm off to bed now as I am 1 hour +Uk time. Any other questions will have to wait until the morning.