This system is what generates the heart beat. The test requires that the patient eat nothing after midnight the night before. Some medications may need to be withheld before the test. These include some medicines that regulate the heart beat, the powerful blood thinner coumadin as well as some diabetic medicines.
Outpatients can have the test done in the morning and go home later that day.
Someone else should drive them home. They should rest for the remainder of the day. They can resume their normal activities the following day unless advised otherwise by their physician. The test is performed by placing thin plastic tubes into a vein where the leg connects to the stomach. A local anesthetic is given as well as a mild sedative.