Risks And Complications
The overall risk for complications from cardiac catheterization is about 1 in 1000. Contrast dyes cause adverse effects in almost 1 out of 10 patients. The common side effect is nausea or vomiting. Some of the complications due to dye allergy are -
- Fast heartbeat
- Slow heartbeat
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Shock
- Kidney failure
- Epilepsy
- Itching
- Rashes
Few other complications are -
- Bleeding at the insertion site
- Damage to the blood vessels used for catheter entry
- Infection
- Ventricular arrhythmias
- Pneumothorax [air collection between the chest wall and the lungs]
- Cardiac tamponade [fluid collection around the heart]
- Heart attack
- Stroke [0.1%]
- Air embolism
- Death [0.1- 0.2%]
In rare cases, patients undergoing angiogram will be shifted to the operation room for an emergency bypass surgery.
