For Cardiac Catherization only local anesthesia iis given where the incision is made. The patient himself can see the procedure and the position in the moniter fixed before him. The local anesthesia given will make the patient somewhat drowsy for 2 to 3 hours. Otherwise he will not be put to sleep. Now read about cardiac catherization - Cardiac catheterization (heart cath) is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. This is done for both investigational and interventional purposes. Coronary catheterization is a subset of this technique, involving the catheterization of the coronary arteries. A small incision is made in a vessel in the groin, wrist or neck area (the femoral vessels or the carotid/jugular vessels), then a guidewire is inserted into the incision and threaded through the vessel into the area of the heart that requires treatment, visualized by fluoroscopy or echocardiogram, and a catheter is then threaded over the guidewire. When the necessary procedures are complete, the catheter is removed followed by the guidewire. Occasionally the incision requires a suture or two, but more often just requires a few minutes of pressure with a clean dressing to stop bleeding. A cardiac catheterization is a general term for a group of procedures that are performed using this method, such as coronary angiography. Once the catheter is in place, it can be used to perform a number of procedures including angioplasty, angiography, and balloon septostomy-.