Medical Oncologist
CION Cancer Clinics
The day of your TACE procedure | CION Cancer Clinics
On the day of TACE you are admitted, asked to fast, and taken to an X-ray room. A thin tube goes from your leg or wrist to the liver, and a chemotherapy drug and blocking material are released into the tumour. You are awake but drowsy. Most people stay one night. This page walks through the day, what is normal afterwards and what needs a doctor. CION Cancer Clinics’ surgical oncologists in Hyderabad can talk this through with you.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Muralidhar MuddusettyConsultant Surgical Oncologist · MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery, AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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The short answer
What actually happens on the day of TACE?
On the day of TACE you are admitted, prepared and taken to an X-ray procedure room. A thin tube is passed from an artery in your leg or wrist to the liver, where a chemotherapy drug and blocking material are released into the tumour's blood supply. You are usually awake but drowsy, and most people stay at least one night.
Who you will meet
The procedure is done by an interventional radiologist. That is a doctor who treats disease through blood vessels using live X-ray pictures as a guide. A nurse and a radiographer, who runs the X-ray equipment, are in the room too. Sometimes an anaesthetist looks after your sedation.
What it feels like
You feel the sting of the numbing injection and some pushing where the tube goes in. You do not feel the tube moving inside the blood vessels. Some people feel warmth when the dye is injected. An ache under the right ribs can start towards the end, and you can ask for more pain relief at any point.
Everyone's day runs a little differently. Your centre will give you its own written instructions, and those come first.Before you come
What should we bring and arrange?
- Every scan on disc and every report, including older ones
- A written list of all medicines, including blood thinners and diabetes tablets
- Recent blood test results, if they were done elsewhere
- Any note of a past reaction to X-ray dye, iodine or sedation
- Your Aarogyasri, CGHS, ECHS, EHS or insurance card
- An adult who can stay nearby and take you home
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistStep by step
How does the day unfold?
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Admission and fasting
You will usually be asked not to eat for some hours beforehand. The exact time comes from your centre. A nurse checks your details, blood pressure and blood results, and puts a small cannula, a soft tube, into a vein in your hand or arm.
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Consent
The doctor explains the plan, the likely effects and the risks, and asks you to sign. This is the moment to ask anything you are unsure about. A family member can be with you.
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In the procedure room
You lie on your back on a narrow table under the X-ray machine. The skin at the groin or wrist is cleaned and covered with sterile sheets. Sedation and pain relief go in through the cannula.
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Reaching the tumour
After numbing the skin, the doctor passes a thin tube into the artery and steers it to the liver while watching a screen. Dye shows the arteries, and a tiny inner tube is guided into the branch feeding the tumour.
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Drug and blocking material
The chemotherapy mixture or drug-carrying beads are released slowly, followed by blocking material, until blood flow into the tumour slows.
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Back on the ward
The tube is removed and the puncture is pressed or sealed. You lie flat, or keep your wrist still, for some hours while nurses check the site, your pulse and your pain.
The hours after
What is normal once it is over?
Most of what people feel afterwards is the tumour losing its blood supply. Knowing what is expected makes the first night less frightening.
Pain under the right ribs
An ache or cramp in the liver area, sometimes reaching the right shoulder. It is treated with regular pain relief through the drip or by mouth.
Fever
A raised temperature in the first days is common and is part of post-embolisation syndrome. The team checks it to make sure it is not an infection.
Feeling sick
Nausea and a poor appetite are common. Anti-sickness medicine helps, and small sips and light food are usually fine once you are allowed.
A sore puncture site
A small bruise is normal.
Tell a nurse straight away if
- The area swells or feels warm and wet
- Your leg or hand turns cold or numb
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Once you are home: when not to wait
Go to an emergency department the same day if there is a high fever with shivering, yellow eyes or skin, confusion or unusual sleepiness, vomiting blood, black stools, severe pain that keeps getting worse, a quickly swelling belly, or bleeding from the puncture site. Press firmly on any bleeding while you get help. Tell them the person recently had TACE.
Commonly believed
What do people often worry about that is not true?
"They will open up my stomach."
There is no cut into the belly. The only opening is a small puncture at the top of the leg or the wrist, about the size of a drip. Nothing is stitched in most cases.
"I will feel the tube moving inside me."
The inside of blood vessels has no nerves that sense the tube. People feel pressure at the entry point and sometimes warmth from the dye, but not the tube travelling.
"Fever the next day means something went wrong."
A fever in the first days is common and expected as the tumour breaks down. What matters is how high it goes, whether shivering comes with it, and whether it returns after settling. The team watches for those.
"I must stay completely flat for days."
Lying flat or keeping the wrist still is needed for some hours only. After that, getting up and walking gently is usually encouraged, because it helps you recover.
Being straight with you
What can this page not tell you?
It cannot tell you how your own day will run. Fasting times, the choice of leg or wrist, the type of sedation and the length of stay all vary between centres and between patients.
It is not a decision about whether to have TACE
This page describes the procedure once it has been recommended. It does not say whether TACE is right for you. That depends on your liver, your tumour and your general health, weighed by your team. If you have not yet had that conversation, ask for it before the date is fixed.
What to ask your centre beforehand
Which medicines should I take on the morning, and which should wait? Will I be sedated or put to sleep? Will the tube go in at the leg or the wrist? How long should I expect to stay? Who do I call at night if something worries me once I am home?
Never stop, start or change a medicine on your own before the procedure. The team and your prescribing doctor will tell you what to do.Questions we are asked
Common questions about the day of TACE
How long does the TACE procedure take?
The procedure itself usually takes an hour or two. It can take longer when there are several tumours or the arteries are difficult to steer through. Admission, preparation and lying flat afterwards make it most of a day, so family members should plan to stay around.
Can a family member come into the room?
Usually not into the procedure room itself, because it uses X-rays and must stay sterile. A family member can normally be with you before and after, and during the consent conversation. Ask your centre where they can wait and how they will be told that it is finished.
Can I eat and drink on the morning?
You will usually be asked not to eat for some hours beforehand, and sometimes to limit drinks. The exact timing comes from your centre, and it matters more if you have diabetes. Follow the written instructions you are given, and ask if anything is unclear.
Why is the wrist used instead of the groin for some people?
Going in through the wrist can let you sit up and move sooner, and some people find it more comfortable. The groin is still used very often, and some arteries are easier to reach from there. The doctor chooses based on your blood vessels and their own experience.
Will I need a urinary catheter?
Usually not. Most people can use a bedpan or bottle during the hours they need to lie flat. A urinary catheter, a soft tube that drains the bladder, may be used for a longer procedure or if you cannot pass urine lying down. Ask beforehand if this worries you.
When can I go home?
Many people go home the next day, once pain is controlled, the fever is manageable and they are eating and walking. Some need longer if symptoms are strong. You should not drive yourself home, and you should have an adult with you for the first night.
Is the chemotherapy in TACE dangerous for people at home?
Most of the drug stays inside the liver, so the precautions are simpler than with chemotherapy through a drip. Your centre may still suggest washing hands well after using the toilet for a short time. Follow the specific advice they give you, especially if there is a pregnant woman at home.
When will I know whether it worked?
Not on the day. The tumour needs time to respond, so a check scan is done some weeks later. The team uses that scan and fresh blood tests to decide whether another session is needed or the plan should change. Ask when your scan is booked before you go home.
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Dr. C. Raghavendra Reddy
MBBS(Gold Medal), DNB(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Gold Medal)
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Dr. Bharati Devi Gorantla
MBBS, MD(General Medicine), DM(Medical Oncology)(Adyar,Chennai), ECMO, MRCP SCE(UK)
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Dr. Owais Mohammed
MBBS, MD (General Medicine), DrNB (Medical Oncology), ECMO, MRCP SCE (Medical Oncology) (UK)
Medical Oncologist
Medical Oncologist
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Dr. Muralidhar Muddusetty
MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery) (AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh)
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vinay Mamidala
MBBS, MS(General Surgery), M.Ch(Surgical Oncology), FMAS, FARIS(Ongoing)
Surgical Oncologist
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Surgical Oncologist
Dr. Vajja Sandeep Kumar
MBBS, MS (General Surgery), DrNB (Surgical Oncology), FALS Oncology
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Sources
- American Cancer Society — Embolization therapy for liver cancer
- Cancer Research UK — Treatment for liver cancer
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Liver cancer
- NHS — Liver cancer: treatment
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
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