Patient preparation involves removing clothing and jewelry and wearing a patient gown. In all cases, angiography requires that intravenous contrast is administered. For interventional or therapeutic angiography, a small incision is made in the groin or arm so that a catheter can be inserted during the study. The technologist and radiologist remain at table-side during the procedure to operate the angiography system and work with the catheters, contrast injectors and related devices. Typically the patient simply needs to relax and stay calm during angiography.
Some angiography procedures can take up to two hours while other procedures take less than an hour.
Once the procedure is finished, the patient will be given a period of time to recover. During this period, the patient's case is reviewed on film or monitor. Depending on the type of angiographic procedure and the patient's medical condition, an inpatient recovery may be required or the patient may be released after a short time. In some cases, more images may need to be taken. During bypass surgery, synthetic blood vessels or vessels grafted from other parts of the body are used to create an alternative passage.