Doctors perform a number of different outpatient heart procedures, including angioplasty, stenting, pacemaker implantation, and others.

If you have a heart condition, your doctor might recommend an outpatient heart procedure. This means you won’t need to stay in the hospital and can go home the same day.

Most of these procedures are minimally invasive, so they don’t require as much recovery time.

Read on to learn about different types of outpatient heart procedures.

Doctors often recommend cardiac catheterization for people with chest pain, heart attacks, or abnormal stress test results. Sometimes, they even use it instead of surgery to replace heart valves or fix defects.

The procedure involves a doctor threading a catheter through a blood vessel up to your heart to examine heart valves or take small samples of heart muscle or blood. They may also inject dye so that any artery blockages will be visible on X-rays.

Usually, healthcare professionals will monitor you in the recovery room afterward. But sometimes it’s necessary to stay in the hospital overnight after this procedure, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Angioplasty is a common medical procedure to open blocked arteries and restore full blood flow to the heart.

A doctor threads a catheter into a blood vessel and guides it toward the blockage. Once it’s in place, they inflate a tiny balloon at the tip. The balloon pushes aside the plaque that’s developed inside the artery and narrowed or blocked the flow of blood.

You may be able to remain awake for this procedure. Afterward, your doctor will likely ask you to rest for a day or two and avoid any heavy lifting.

Stenting is often part of an angioplasty procedure. Once a doctor has widened or opened the artery with the tiny inflated balloon, they may insert a small metal mesh tube or coil called a stent to hold it open.

Many stents are coated with a medication to prevent blood clots from forming. You’ll also need to take a blood-thinning medication after undergoing angioplasty and stenting.

Some people do need to stay in the hospital overnight following this procedure, but doctors sometimes do it on an outpatient basis. You may need to stay for several days if it was an emergency procedure.

Your doctor may recommend that you undergo electrophysiological testing to find out where an arrhythmia is coming from.

They’ll insert a narrow catheter into a blood vessel leading to your heart so that they can place electrodes into your heart to measure electrical activity. The test will last about 1 to 4 hours.

After spending a couple of monitored hours in the recovery room, you should be able to go home. Your doctor may advise you not to drive for 24 hours afterward, but you should be able to return to your normal activities the next day.

Also known as cardiac ablation, doctors can use radiofrequency ablation to address an abnormal heartbeat. In many cases, they’ll perform an electrophysiology study and ablation together.

Cardiac ablation uses high frequency radio waves to heat a small section of nerve tissue and destroy it. It creates scar tissue in the area where the arrhythmia originated, helping stop it.

Most people are able to go home the same day as their procedure and return to their normal activities within a day or two.

If you have a serious heart arrhythmia, you may need an implanted device to restore your normal heart rhythm.

Some examples of these devices include pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). Pacemakers send electrical pulses to keep the heart beating normally, while ICDs deliver a shock if they detect an abnormal or dangerous heart rhythm.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), most small battery-powered ICDs — also called transvenous ICDs — can also serve as pacemakers. If you get one, you may have to be careful about spending time in areas with strong magnetic fields. These can interfere with your device.

Transesophageal echocardiography uses ultrasound to produce images of your heart and the arteries connected to it.

It’s different from a standard echocardiogram because your doctor will guide a small transducer down your esophagus using a thin tube called an endoscope.

The esophagus is so close to the heart that when the sound waves bounce off the heart, it creates very clear pictures of, and insights into, the heart’s structure and function.

Most people just need a local anesthetic and moderate sedation for this procedure. However, you’ll still need someone else to drive you home. You may also have a sore throat for a day or two afterward.

Guided by ultrasound, a doctor performing an endovenous laser treatment uses a catheter with a laser on the end to heat up a vein and then close it.

It’s a minimally invasive procedure that doctors often use for varicose veins and other venous conditions.

Advances in technology have given us many ways to diagnose and treat several heart issues on an outpatient basis.

In some cases, you might have to stay in the hospital overnight, but most of the time, you can go home the same day.

It’s important to speak with your doctor and pay close attention to your instructions for post-procedure care.