Coronary Stenting

The placement of a stent, which is a mesh, metal tube placed in an artery in the heart (a coronary artery) to help keep the artery open after an angioplasty procedure

Parts of the Body Involved

  • Coronary arteries
  • An artery in the groin
  • Arteries leading to the heart

Reasons for Procedure

To hold open a blocked artery in the heart, thus allowing more normal blood flow through that artery.

Risk Factors for Complications during the Procedure

  • Obesity
  • Smoking
  • Bleeding disorder
  • Age: 60 or older
  • Recent pneumonia
  • Recent heart attack
  • Diabetes
  • Angina
  • Calcification of blood vessels

What to Expect

Prior to Procedure

Your doctor will likely do the following:
  • Blood tests
  • Electrocardiogram (ECG, EKG)

Outcome

Your artery should be considerably more open, allowing better blood flow to feed the heart muscle. This may mean that you'll no longer have chest pain that you previously experienced, or it may mean that your tolerance for exercise will increase. Sometimes, however, the procedure isn't successful, or the artery narrows again, in which case you may require repeat angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Call Your Doctor If Any of the Following Occurs

  • Chest pain
  • Your arm or leg becomes painful, blue, cold, numb, tingly, swollen, or increasingly bruised
  • Cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, or severe nausea or vomiting
  • Redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or discharge from the insertion site in your groin
  • Signs of infection, including fever and chills