In what type of facility setting is an angioplasty usually performed?

In the hospital in a cath lab where you'll change into a hospital gown. An IV line will be started and you may be given medication or fluid throught this line. The skin where the catheter will be inserted may be shaved. You'll lie on a table beneath x-ray cameras. Video monitors will be nearby. Although sedated for comfort, you'll remain awake during the procedure. An introducing sheath is inserted into an artery in the groin, arm or wrist. The sheath remains in place throughout the entire procedure. A catheter and guide wire are put into the sheath. They are then threaded throught the arteries to the heart. This takes just seconds. Blood vessels have no pain nerves, so you won't feel their passing. During cardiac catheterization, guides wires & catheters may be removed and replaced several times. This is done to reach each of the coronary arteries. Once the catheter is postioned in the arter, x-ray dye is injected through the catheter. The dye enters the artery, allowing the blood flow channel (the lumen) to show up on the x-rays. You may feel a warm flush as the dye enters your system. Several images (angiograms) are then taken. The angiograms show the amount of narrowing in the artery and its exact location. These details help your doctor form a plan to open or bypass blockages.