CORONARY STENTS
Before stents were used, balloon angioplasty was used to treat narrowed coronary arteries. This involved inserting a very thin, long, balloon-tipped tube into an artery where there was a blockage. The balloon at the tip of the catheter was inflated to compress the blockage and restore blood flow. It was then deflated to remove the catheter and balloon but because no support was left at the site of the blockage, in some cases, the artery collapsed.
This is why small stents were developed. The stents could be mounted onto the balloon and inserted into the blood vessel. The stent will expand once the balloon is inflated and it will lock into place forming a permanent scaffold to hold the artery open even after the balloon is removed. The stent is a tiny, expandable wire mesh tube made of …show more content…
If there is a blockage in this artery, there is reduced blood flow to the heart which can lead to chest pain. If a clot completely blocks the artery there will be no blood flow to part of the heart which can cause a heart attack. Stents will help keep coronary arteries open and reduce the chance of a heart attack.
Stents are used depending on certain features of the artery blockage. Factors that affect whether a stent can be used include the size of the artery and where the blockage is. An advantage of using stents instead of having coronary artery bypass surgery, is that stenting is considered minimally invasive as it involves no major incisions, is performed with local anaesthesia and mild sedation, and the procedure usually takes an hour or so. Patients who have angioplasty and stents recover from these procedures much faster than patients who have coronary artery bypass surgery and they have much less discomfort. Stents also help prevent the renarrowing of an artery that can happen after an angioplasty. This renarrowing is called
Before stents were used, balloon angioplasty was used to treat narrowed coronary arteries. This involved inserting a very thin, long, balloon-tipped tube into an artery where there was a blockage. The balloon at the tip of the catheter was inflated to compress the blockage and restore blood flow. It was then deflated to remove the catheter and balloon but because no support was left at the site of the blockage, in some cases, the artery collapsed.
This is why small stents were developed. The stents could be mounted onto the balloon and inserted into the blood vessel. The stent will expand once the balloon is inflated and it will lock into place forming a permanent scaffold to hold the artery open even after the balloon is removed. The stent is a tiny, expandable wire mesh tube made of …show more content…
If there is a blockage in this artery, there is reduced blood flow to the heart which can lead to chest pain. If a clot completely blocks the artery there will be no blood flow to part of the heart which can cause a heart attack. Stents will help keep coronary arteries open and reduce the chance of a heart attack.
Stents are used depending on certain features of the artery blockage. Factors that affect whether a stent can be used include the size of the artery and where the blockage is. An advantage of using stents instead of having coronary artery bypass surgery, is that stenting is considered minimally invasive as it involves no major incisions, is performed with local anaesthesia and mild sedation, and the procedure usually takes an hour or so. Patients who have angioplasty and stents recover from these procedures much faster than patients who have coronary artery bypass surgery and they have much less discomfort. Stents also help prevent the renarrowing of an artery that can happen after an angioplasty. This renarrowing is called