It's common to have bleeding or bruising under the skin where the catheter was inserted. More serious complications are less common but can include: damage to the artery where the sheath was inserted. allergic reaction to the contrast agent used during the procedure.
A stent can cause blood clotting, which may increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute state that about 1 to 2 percent of people who have stented arteries develop a blood clot at the site of the stent. Doctors will usually prescribe one or more drugs to prevent clotting.
Originally, stents were made of bare metal. But sometimes, cells from the inner artery walls grew over and around the metal, like a scab on a wound. Known as restenosis, the process can re-block blood flow through the artery, causing chest pain (angina) and, in some cases, a heart attack.
It depends primarily on the underlying heart disease, age, and medical condition of the patient. A younger patient, for example, who has a strong heart and has never experienced a heart attack, will be expected to live a full and active lifespan.
They can be more physically active, travel, feel more energetic, and notice improvement in overall health. As long as one follows their doctor's advice and consults the doctor regularly, there is every chance that one has a longer and healthier life span post an angioplasty.
As a result, even after implanting stents in three major coronary arteries, if correctly controlled, you can live a long life.
Dairy - preferably low fat. Healthy fats - a small amount of healthy fats and oils from nuts, seeds, avocado and oily fish. Water - avoid sugary soft drinks and drink alcohol only in moderation.
While the research is clear that stents save lives if inserted during a heart attack, “for most patients with stable heart disease, there's no good evidence that it can save their life or improve their symptoms any more than medication and lifestyle changes,” says Frederick Welt, M.D., chair of the American College of ...
Increased pain, redness, swelling, bleeding, or other drainage from the insertion site. Coolness, numbness or tingling, or other changes in the affected arm or leg. Chest pain or pressure, nausea or vomiting, profuse sweating, dizziness, or fainting.
If you have other medical conditions such as multiple narrowed coronary arteries, kidney disease that is long-lasting, or diabetes, stents may not be recommended. Your provider may recommend coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) instead.
Symptoms like fatigue, chest pain or shortness of breath can indicate in-stent restenosis. If you experience symptoms, you should contact your healthcare provider. Newer, safer drug-eluting stents can lower your risk of developing in-stent restenosis.
In most cases, you'll be advised to avoid heavy lifting and strenuous activities for about a week, or until the wound has healed.
Stenting is a minimally invasive procedure, meaning it is not considered major surgery. Stents can be made of metal mesh, fabric, silicone, or combinations of materials. Stents used for coronary arteries are made of metal mesh. Fabric stents, also called stent grafts, are used in larger arteries such as the aorta.
Immediate stent collapse can be caused by vascular spasm [5] and elastic recoil of the vessel [6].
Red wine, in moderation, has long been thought of as heart healthy. The alcohol and certain substances in red wine called antioxidants may help prevent coronary artery disease, the condition that leads to heart attacks.
The two antioxidant compounds are resveratrol and quercetin. "By delivering red wine antioxidants during conventional angioplasty, it may be possible to prevent excess tissue from building up and the blood vessel from narrowing again as it heals," Dr. Dugas said.
Heart attack or an angioplasty (stents)
But you will be asked to stop driving for: 1 week if you've had a successful angioplasty and you don't need any more surgery. 4 weeks if you've had angioplasty but it wasn't successful. 4 weeks if you've had a heart attack but didn't have angioplasty.
The procedure can also reduce your chances of having another heart attack in the future.
Bedrest may vary from two to six hours depending on your specific condition. If your physician placed a closure device, your bedrest may be of shorter duration. In some cases, the sheath or introducer may be left in the insertion site.
While stents offer a minimally invasive way to reopen a blocked artery, bypass surgery also remains a leading treatment for people with complex coronary artery disease (CAD).
You will need to take antiplatelet medicines, or blood thinners, to prevent blood clots from forming in the stents in your arteries. Your provider may prescribe these medicines for 1 year or more after getting a coronary stent. For carotid or peripheral artery stents, it may be 1 month or more.
“Most of the time after a heart attack, people actually do quite well and live fuller lives afterward.” In fact, if the blockage that caused your heart attack is cleared with stents or surgery, you might feel better and have more energy than you did before your heart attack.
As recommended in the National Disease Management Guidelines (6), patients with coronary heart disease and those who have undergone stent implantation should be followed up regularly (every three to six months) by their primary care physicians, independently of any additional visits that may be necessitated by ...