We know that anticipating your interventional radiology procedure can cause anxiety, so we are going to walk you through a typical day so that you’ll feel as comfortable as possible throughout the entire experience. We want you to know what to expect on the day of your procedure.
The morning before the IR procedure
When you wake up, remember not to eat or drink anything if you will be getting sedation. Any medicines that you will not be holding for the procedure can be taken with a sip of water. Your scheduled arrival time will be approximately 1 hour prior to your scheduled start time. While you do need a driver to take you home if you receive sedation, you could take a taxi or use a rideshare app to get yourself to our clinic. If you are running late or cannot find our facility, that’s ok. Just give us a call, and we will help with directions.
Once you arrive
When you arrive at our facilities, we will check you in at the front desk for your IR procedure. Then you and your party will be brought back to your room. Once you are settled in, one of our nurses will bring you a gown for you to change into. It can sometimes get a little cold, so you all may want to bring a jacket or a blanket. We will have some warm blankets available for patients. Once you have changed, our nurse will start an IV. If you are getting sedation, you will meet our nurse anesthetist, who will be administering the sedative medicine during the procedure. You’ll be asked a few questions regarding the anesthesia plan. Next, Dr. Smith will spend some time with you to go over any aspects of your care that you may have questions about. After that, you’ll be ready to go.
After the IR procedure
After your procedure has been completed, we will bring you back to the same room you were in before. You will likely stay asleep for 10 minutes or so if you have sedation. If you underwent an angiogram or an embolization, we likely accessed an artery in your groin, and we will have you keep that leg straight for an hour. During that time, you can tilt your head up to have something to drink or some light snacks. After your bedrest is over, we will assist you in getting up and changing clothes. Once you are ready to leave, we will go over what to expect over the next few days, specific to your procedure. You will have a bandage over the access site, which should remain in place until the next day. You will likely be hungry since you will not have eaten a full meal since the evening before. We recommend that you eat something light to see how your stomach feels before eating a heavy meal. We will call you the next day to see how you are doing and answer any questions you may have.