How to Insert Stents for a Blockage

Stents are small tubes made out of metal mesh that act as scaffolds to hold open arteries in danger of blockage. This blockage can happen when fatty deposits (also known as plaque) build up on the interior of an artery, gradually narrowing it until it is vulnerable to a sudden blockage. If the condition, known as atherosclerosis, affects the arteries running into the heart, there is a serious risk of a heart attack. To avoid this deadly outcome, doctors insert stents through a noninvasive surgical procedure known as balloon angioplasty.

Instructions

• 1

  Wheel the patient into an operating theater equipped with an X-ray machine.

• 2

  Cut a small entry into a blood vessel in the arm or leg of the patient.

• 3

  Insert a plastic introducer sheath through the incision made in the blood vessel.

• 4

  Insert a cardiac catheter -- a long, narrow, flexible tube -- into the blood vessel through the introducer sheath. The tip of the catheter contains a small inflatable balloon surrounded by a metal stent.

• 5

  Use the X-ray machine to guide the catheter through the blood vessel to the site of the potential blockage.

• 6

  Inflate the balloon at the tip of the catheter. This will press the stent against the arterial walls, compressing the plaque buildup.

• 7

  Deflate the balloon. This will leave the stent behind in the artery, preventing it from collapsing back. The arterial wall will gradually heal around the mesh of the stent.

• 8

  Remove the catheter from the patient, then remove the insertion tube. Close the incision in the arm or leg, and the procedure is complete.