Peripheral angiography is a test, which uses X-rays, and a special dye to examine and find blocked or narrowed blood vessels, or arteries carrying blood to the brain, arms, legs, chest, belly or back.
Peripheral angiography is a test, which uses X-rays, and a special dye to examine and find blocked or narrowed blood vessels, or arteries carrying blood to the brain, arms, legs, chest, belly or back.
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Steps to take before Peripheral Angiography
Discuss with our doctor about your allergies and any kind of medicine that you take. Our doctors at Medanta will guide you on the diet and will prescribe you medicines that you should take 24 hours before the tests. Leave all of your jewellery at home and arrange for someone to drive you back home.
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What happens during Peripheral Angiography?
The first step in the procedure is to clean the area to be incised. A local anaesthesia is injected into the skin for numbing the area to be incised. Through the incision, a needle is placed into that artery. A thin plastic tube called catheter is made to pass through the needle and then the dye is made to flow through this catheter into the arteries. The dye flows with the blood stream creating images on the X-ray screen.
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After Peripheral Angiography
Once the test is complete, the catheter and needle are carefully removed, and a bandage is put on the site. If required, you will be given a pain killing medicine, and you will have to rest in bed after the test for several hours. Our team of doctors and nursing staff will keep you comfortable throughout your diagnosis and stay.
This revolutionary technique has made the procedure much more comfortable and less risky. Though, the risks associated with the procedure are rare, there are certain complications that may arise.
The advantages of Peripheral Angiography procedure are:
- The test help to identify the blockage, and severity with minimal invasion surgery.
- The patient can resume normal activities within 4-5 hours of performing the procedure.
- At times, the inserted dye itself removes blockage from the artery.
- The procedure is less time consuming and not risky.
The risks associated with Peripheral Angiography procedure are:
- Swelling or bleeding from the angiogram site.
- Blood clots leading to a stroke or heart attack.
- Damage to blood vessel.
- Allergic reaction and kidney damage from the dye.
- Hematoma, a collection of blood at the site of the needle punctures.
Limitations of this procedure are:
- The technique is unable to visualise vessels smaller than 0.5 mm.
