Outpatient angiography: a prospective study of 3 French catheters in unselected patients.

Financial constraints and bed shortages led to a re-evaluation of the policy of routine hospital admission for angiography. All patients referred for peripheral and renal angiography over an 8 month period had the procedure performed as an outpatient with a 3 F catheter. Patients were kept supine for 1 h and discharged 2 h after the angiogram. No significant complications resulted from the early mobilization of 219 patients who had outpatient 3 F angiography. It was a safe, well tolerated procedure, resulting in images of consistently adequate quality.