Chemoembolization Patient Education

Chemoembolization Patient Education

Chemoembolization Patient Education

Follow these instructions for chemoembolization treatment discharge.

After discharge

Your recovery usually takes 7 to 10 days. Following discharge:

  • Limit your activities and get plenty of rest
  • Do not drive for 24 hours
  • Begin to resume your normal activities the day after you leave the hospital
  • No physical exertion or heavy lifting (greater than 10 lbs.) for the next three days
  • You may bathe or shower at any time
  • Slowly increase your physical activity
  • Depending on your job and its demands, you may return to work
  • Check your temperature twice a day for five days

Medication and pain

If you were prescribed antibiotics or pain medication, be sure to take it as directed. It is normal to have some pain. Call your physician if you have any concerns.

Procedure site

As it heals, your puncture site should remain soft and dry. If you notice a small amount of bleeding from the puncture site, please do the following:

  • Immediately lie flat.
  • Apply firm pressure for 15 minutes using a clean cloth or tissue. If possible, have another person apply pressure.
  • After 15 minutes, remove pressure. The wound should be dry and flat without bleeding. Cover the wound with a bandage. Notify your physician of this incident right away.

When to call your physician

Contact your physician if you have:

  • Fever over 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit for more than one day
  • Pain or cramping in the abdomen not relieved by pain medication
  • Severe persistent nausea or vomiting
  • Redness or red streaks around the skin wound
  • Bleeding, pain or drainage at the groin site
  • Calf tenderness or pain
  • Numbness or tingling in the foot, thigh or leg
  • Swelling of the ankle and/or foot
  • Increased bruising extending to the thigh, over the buttock and/or groin
  • Color change and/or coolness of the leg or foot

Seek immediate emergency care

While extremely rare, the puncture in your artery could reopen. Immediately apply hard pressure above the puncture would and call 911 if you experience any of the following:

  • Continuous, profuse blood streaming from the wound
  • A jet of blood pumping from the puncture wound
  • Quickly increasing swelling of the area around the wound, which may be pulsating

Follow-up care

A nurse will call you two and four weeks after your procedure to check and see how you are doing. Schedule a follow-up appointment with your oncology physician. Blood tests and a CT scan or MRI are needed after four weeks to see how your liver is doing.