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Angioplasty and Stents

Angioplasty and Stents: Key Points

  • Coronary angiography is a test that uses dye and special x rays to show the inside of your heart’s arteries (the coronary arteries). Coronary angiography can reveal any blocked or narrowed areas in your coronary arteries that might be limiting blood flow to your heart.
  • To deliver the dye to your coronary arteries, a procedure called cardiac catheterization is used. Your doctor will put a thin tube (catheter) into a blood vessel in your arm, groin (upper thigh), or neck and thread it through your coronary arteries.
  • You may need coronary angiography if you have signs or symptoms of coronary artery disease. You also may need coronary angiography on an emergency basis if you’re having a heart attack. This test combined with a procedure called angioplasty can open blocked arteries and prevent further damage to your heart.
  • Before having coronary angiography, discuss with your doctor how to prepare for the test and any special instructions you need to follow.
  • During coronary angiography, you’re kept on your back and awake. That way you can follow your doctor’s instructions during the test. You’ll be given medicine to help you relax.
  • After the test is over, you will be moved to a special care area, where you will rest for several hours or overnight. During this time, your movement will be limited to avoid bleeding from the site where the catheter was inserted.
  • It may not be safe to drive right after the test. If your doctor says you can go home the same day as the test, you should arrange for a ride home from the hospital.
  • A small bruise may develop at the site where the catheter inserted. That area may feel sore or tender for about a week. You need to let your doctor know if you have a lot of bleeding from that area or signs of infection. You may have to avoid doing certain activities, such as heavy lifting, for a short time after the test.
  • Coronary angiography is a common medical test that rarely causes serious complications. The risk of complications is higher in people who have diabetes and kidney disease, and in older people and women

Key Points

  • Coronary angioplasty is a medical procedure in which a balloon is used to open a blockage in a coronary (heart) artery narrowed by atherosclerosis. This procedure improves blood flow to the heart.
  • Atherosclerosis is a condition in which a material called plaque builds up on the inner walls of the arteries. When atherosclerosis affects the coronary arteries, the condition is called coronary artery disease (CAD).
  • Angioplasty can improve some of the symptoms of CAD, such as angina (chest pain) and shortness of breath. It also can reduce damage to the heart muscle from a heart attack and reduce the risk of death in some patients.
  • You may need angioplasty if medicines and lifestyle changes haven’t improved your symptoms of CAD. You also may need angioplasty as emergency treatment during a heart attack.
  • Angioplasty is less invasive than surgery. General anesthesia isn’t needed. You will be given medicines to help you relax, but you will be awake during the procedure.
  • Angioplasty is performed in a special part of the hospital called the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
  • Before angioplasty is done, your doctor will need to know whether your coronary arteries are blocked. To find out, he or she will do an angiogram and take an x-ray picture of your arteries to show any blockages and where they’re located. Once your doctor has this information, the angioplasty can proceed.
  • During angioplasty, your doctor will use a small tube called a catheter with a balloon at the end. He or she will thread the balloon through an artery to the blockage. The balloon is blown up (inflated), pushing the plaque outward against the artery wall. This opens the artery more and improves blood flow through it.
  • During angioplasty, a stent (mesh tube) is often placed in the artery that has been opened. The stent reduces the chance that the artery will become blocked again in the future. The stent remains in place after the procedure.
  • Most people go home 1 to 2 days after having angioplasty. Full recovery from the procedure is usually 1 week or less.
  • Lifestyles changes are recommended after angioplasty to improve CAD and to prevent the arteries from becoming narrowed or blocked again. Lifestyle changes include a healthy diet, weight control, medicines to lower high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, regular physical activity, and quitting smoking.
  • Angioplasty is a common medical procedure and is generally safe, but there is a small risk of serious complications.
  • Renarrowing of the treated artery and growth of scar tissue within a stent can occur. The use of medicine-coated stents can lower the chance of this happening, but these stents aren’t without risk. In some cases, blood clots can form in the medicine-coated stents.
  • Research on angioplasty is ongoing to make it safer and more effective, to prevent treated arteries from closing again, and to make the procedure an option for more people.