How to Place a Cardiac Stent

A stent procedure is performed during an angioplasty to hold open collapsed arteries in the heart. The stent is made of a wire metal mesh and is left in the artery permanently. Over time, the artery lining grows over the metal stent. A stent procedure helps blood flow easier to the heart, lessening the risk of a heart attack.

Things You'll Need

• Doctor's appointment
• Angioplasty
• Stent

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Instructions

• 1

  See your doctor immediately when chest pain or shortness of breath present themselves. Your doctor examines you and determines whether arteries in the heart are blocked. An angioplasty and stent placement is scheduled if blocked arteries are found.

• 2

  Your surgeon performs the angioplasty and stent placement. You remain awake during the procedure, and electrodes are placed on your chest to monitor your heart rate and blood pressure. Numbing solution is placed on your inner thigh, and an incision made.

• 3

  A thin wire with an attached catheter is threaded into the leg artery and is guided up to your heart. A small balloon at the end of the catheter is expanded at the blockage point in the arteries.

• 4

  The stent is placed in the artery after the balloon is inflated and is locked into place, where it remains permanently. The catheter is then removed, and images are taken to see how well blood is flowing through the newly opened arteries. The guidewire is then removed, and the incision is stitched closed.

• 5

  You remain in the hospital 1 or 2 days as the heart is monitored and blood thinners are administered to relax your arteries and prevent blood clots.