Discharge Instructions for Renal Angiography

You had a procedure called renal angiography. This provides information about the blood vessels in your kidneys. During the procedure, a catheter (thin, flexible tube) was inserted into one of your blood vessels through a small incision. A dye was injected to make your blood vessels show up better on X-ray images. X-ray pictures were then taken. The procedure is usually done by a specially trained doctor called an interventional radiologist.

Home Care

• Don't drive until the day after the procedure.

• Do only light and easy activities for 2–3 days after the procedure.

• Avoid strenuous activity for 2 weeks after the procedure.

• Exercise according to your doctor’s recommendations.

• Ask your doctor when you can return to work.

• You can shower the day after the procedure. Do not swim or sit in a bath or hot tub until your incision has healed.

• Take your medications exactly as directed.

• Unless told otherwise, drink 6–8 glasses of water a day to prevent dehydration and to help flush your body of the dye that was used during your procedure.

• Take your temperature and check your incision for signs of infection (redness, swelling, or warmth at the incision site) every day for a week.

• Break the smoking habit. Enroll in a stop-smoking program to improve your chances of success.

Follow-Up

Make a follow-up appointment as directed by our staff.