Your heart beats over 100,000 times per day, pumping life-giving blood all over the body. But sometimes, heart problems can threaten this essential function, leaving you feeling uneasy and confused. Some medical institutions are dedicated to providing you with compassionate care and knowledge. Two medical methods used to identify and treat vascular disorders, particularly those affecting the arteries, are angiography and angioplasty.
If severe blockages are found and medical conditions necessitate immediate intervention, angioplasty may be performed immediately right after angiography. In this blog post, we will discuss about two important procedures that help diagnose and treat vascular conditions.
Overview of Angiography and Angioplasty
Angiography
It is a non-invasive diagnostic technique that visualizes your vascular system using cutting-edge imaging technology. A contrast dye can be injected into your bloodstream to help our medical team identify conditions, like aneurysm, blood clots, and atherosclerosis.
Types of Angiography
There are different types of angiography, depending on the specific body parts being examined, in which blood vessels are examined using radiograph or other imaging.
- Coronary
- Cerebral
- Pulmonary
- Renal
- Radionuclide
- Digital subtraction
- Computed tomography, etc.
Angioplasty
When intervention is require for cardiovascular health conditions, it provides a minimally invasive option. Through a tiny incision, a catheter is inserted into the artery that is impacted and a balloon is inflated to widen the blocked passage. To preserve artery patency a stent may be placed. By restoring blood flow, this process help in reducing symptoms and avoiding complications.
Types of Angioplasty
There are several kinds of the procedure, which include:
- Balloon angioplasty
- Stent placement
- Cutting balloon angioplasty
- Laser angioplasty
- Atherectomy
Comparison Between Angiography and Angioplasty Procedures
Both procedures are related to the examination and treatment of blood vessels, mainly in cases of coronary artery problems, but they differ greatly in their purpose, method and results. A list of some differences are provided below between these two procedures.
1) Purpose
- A diagnostic process for visualizing blood vessels is called angiography. It helps medical experts in identifying blood vessel, narrowings or other abnormalities.
- Angioplasty is a therapeutic procedures for opening blocked blood vessels. The procedures used to restore proper blood flow by widening a narrowed artery.
2) Stent Use
- Angiography is only used for diagnostic purposes stents are not used.
- After the balloon is inflated a stent may be inserted as part of an angioplasty procedure to help manage the blood vessel open.
3) Duration
- As angiography only require imaging, it is commonly a faster and easy procedure. It generally takes 30 to 60 minutes.
- Angioplasties are more involved and take longer, usually lasting one to two hours especially if a stent is inserted.
4) Healing Process
- Patients can often return home the same day after an angiography procedure which requires little recovery time.
- In the event that a stent is implanted patients may require overnight observation, and have a longer recovery period following an angioplasty.
5) Complications
- As a diagnostic procedure angiography carries a lower risk though uncommon side effects, include dye allergies or bleeding.
- Angioplasty is more risky than angiography because it involves blood vessel intervention. Bleeding, blood clots, or restenosis are among the potential hazards.
Which is Better: Angioplasty or Angiography?
One of these processes is not always better than the other because they fulfill different purposes. In contrast to angioplasty which uses a balloon to open constricted arteries and frequently inserts a stent to keep them open, while angiography is a diagnostic technique that uses imaging to identify blockages.
Angiography is typically used to identify problems first and angioplasty may be used to restore blood flow if a significant blockage is found. Angiography is used to diagnose issues and angioplasty is used to treat them when needed. They are complementary.
Conclusion
Despite being these procedures have the same purpose, to restore the health of cardiovascular system. Individuals will be more capable of navigating the course of treatment if they understand the differences between these diagnostic and therapeutic tools.
Take the next step toward improved heart health by learning the distinction between them. The skilled medical professionals will determine which procedure is best for you so schedule a consultation with them today.
