Stent

Stent is a small mesh tube that's used to treat narrow or weak arteries. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from your heart to other parts of your body. A stent is placed in an artery as part of a procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as coronary angioplasty. PCI restores blood flow through narrow or blocked arteries. A stent helps support the inner wall of the artery in the months or years after PCI. Doctors also may place stents in weak arteries to improve blood flow and help prevent the arteries from bursting.

Types of Stents

There are two types of stents: bare-metal stents and drug-eluting stents.

Bare-Metal Stents

A bare-metal stent is a mesh tube without any coating. It's made of stainless steel or cobalt alloy metal.

Drug-Eluting Stents

A drug-eluting stent is coated with medicine that helps prevent the artery from becoming blocked again.

Procedure

The procedure to place a stent involves threading a thin tube through a small puncture in a leg or arm artery to the heart. The tube, or catheter, has a tiny balloon at its tip. The balloon is inflated to push plaque outward against the wall of the artery. This widens the artery and restores blood flow.

Risks

Stent placement can lead to complications, including blood clots, bleeding, artery damage, kidney damage, and allergic reactions to the stent or its coating.

Aftercare

After a stent procedure, most people need to take medicines, such as aspirin and another antiplatelet medicine, to prevent blood clots. These medicines help keep the blood from forming clots in the stent.

See Also

• Angioplasty
• Coronary artery disease
• Heart attack

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