Coronary artery angioplasty (Radial access)
A coronary angioplasty procedure is also known as percutaneous coronary intervention. The procedure is done on blood vessels called coronary arteries. They supply your heart muscle with oxygen. The goal is to restore blood flow if a substance called plaque has significantly narrowed these vessels. To begin the procedure the doctor will numb the skin in your wrist. A needle will be placed through your skin and into your radial artery. Next, a flexible guide wire will be passed through the needle into your artery. Then the needle will be withdrawn. It will be exchanged for a small flexible tube called a sheath. This permits access into your artery. You may feel pressure when the doctor inserts the sheath. But you will not feel it moving inside your artery. Next, the guide wire will be advanced up to your heart. A flexible tube called a catheter will be advanced over the wire to your coronary arteries. The progress of the procedure will be checked with an x-ray device called ...