Angioplasty is a procedure used to open blocked coronary arteries caused by coronary artery disease. It restores blood flow to the heart muscle without open-heart surgery. Angioplasty can be done in an emergency setting such as a heart attack. Or it can be done as elective surgery if your healthcare provider strongly suspects you have heart disease. Angioplasty is also called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
For angioplasty, a long, thin tube (catheter) is put into a blood vessel and guided to the blocked coronary artery. The catheter has a tiny balloon at its tip. Once the catheter is in place, the balloon is inflated at the narrowed area of the heart artery. This presses the plaque or blood clot against the sides of the artery, making more room for blood flow.
The healthcare provider uses fluoroscopy during the surgery. Fluoroscopy is a special type of X-ray that’s like an X-ray "movie." It helps the doctor find the blockages in the heart arteries as a contrast dye moves through the arteries. This is called coronary angiography.
The healthcare provider may decide that you need another type of procedure. This may include removing the plaque (atherectomy) at the site of the narrowing of the artery. In atherectomy, the provider may use a catheter with a a rotating tip. When the catheter reaches the narrowed spot in the artery, the plaque is broken up or cut away to open the artery.
Coronary stents are now used in nearly all angioplasty procedures. A stent is a tiny, expandable metal mesh coil. It is put into the newly opened area of the artery to help keep the artery from narrowing or closing again.
Once the stent has been placed, tissue will start to coat the stent like a layer of skin. The stent will be fully lined with tissue within 3 to 12 months, depending on if the stent has a medicine coating or not. You may be prescribed medicines called antiplatelets to decrease the "stickiness" of platelets. Platelets are special blood cells that clump together to stop bleeding. The medicine can also prevent blood clots from forming inside the stent. Your healthcare team will give specific instructions on which medicines need to be taken and for how long.
Most stents are coated with medicine to prevent scar tissue from forming inside the stent. These stents are called drug-eluting stents (DES). They release medicine within the blood vessel that slows the overgrowth of tissue within the stent. This helps prevent the blood vessel from becoming narrow again. Some stents don't have this medicine coating and are called bare metal stents (BMS). They may have higher rates of stenosis, but they don't require long-term use of antiplatelet medicines. This may be the preferred stent in people who are at high risk of bleeding.
Because stents can become blocked, it's important to talk with your healthcare team about what you need to do if you have chest pain after a stent placement.
If scar tissue does form inside the stent, you may need a repeat procedure. This may be using either balloon angioplasty or with a second stent. In some cases, radiation therapy may be given through a catheter placed near the scar tissue to stop the growth of scar tissue and open up the vessel. This is called brachytherapy.
Angioplasty may be done as part of your stay in a hospital. Procedures may vary depending on your condition and your doctor's practices. Most people who have angioplasty and stent placement are monitored overnight in the hospital.
Generally, angioplasty follows this process:
You will be asked to remove any jewelry or other objects that may interfere with the procedure. You may wear your dentures or hearing aid if you use either of these.
You will be asked to remove your clothing and will be given a gown to wear.
You will be asked to empty your bladder before the procedure.
If there is a lot of hair at the area of the catheter insertion (often the groin area), the hair may be shaved off.
An IV (intravenous) line will be started in your hand or arm before the procedure. It will be used for injection of medicine and to give IV fluids, if needed.
You will be placed on your back on the procedure table.
You will be connected to an electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor that records the electrical activity of your heart and monitors your heart rate using electrodes that stick to your skin. Your vital signs (heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and oxygen level) will be monitored during the procedure.
There will be several monitor screens in the room, showing your vital signs, the images of the catheter being moved through your body into your heart, and the structures of your heart as the dye is injected.
You will get a sedative in your IV to help you relax. However, you will likely stay awake during the procedure.
Your pulses below the catheter insertion site will be checked and marked so that the circulation to the limb below the site can easily be checked during and after the procedure.
Local anesthesia will be injected into the skin at the insertion site. This may be in your leg, arm, or wrist. You may feel some stinging at the site for a few seconds after the local anesthetic is injected.
Once the local anesthesia has taken effect, a sheath, or introducer, will be put into the blood vessel (often at the groin). This is a plastic tube through which the catheter will be threaded into the blood vessel and advanced into the heart.
The catheter will be threaded through the sheath into the blood vessel. The doctor will advance the catheter through the aorta into the heart. Fluoroscopy will be used to help see the catheter advance into the heart.
The catheter will be threaded into the coronary arteries. Once the catheter is in place, contrast dye will be injected through the catheter into your coronary arteries in order to see the narrowed area(s). You may feel some effects when the contrast dye is injected into the IV line. These effects include a flushing sensation, a salty or metallic taste in the mouth, or a brief headache. These effects usually last only a few moments.
Tell your doctor if you feel any breathing trouble, sweating, numbness, itching, nausea or vomiting, chills, or heart palpitations.
After the contrast dye is injected, a series of rapid X-ray images of the heart and coronary arteries will be taken. You may be asked to take in a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds during this time.
When the doctor locates the narrowed artery, the catheter will be advanced to that location and the balloon will be inflated to open the artery. You may have some chest pain or discomfort at this point because the blood flow is temporarily blocked by the inflated balloon. Any chest discomfort or pain should go away when the balloon is deflated. However, if you notice any continued discomfort or pain, such as chest pain, neck or jaw pain, back pain, arm pain, shortness of breath, or breathing trouble, tell your doctor right away.
The doctor may inflate and deflate the balloon several times. The decision may be made at this point to put in a stent to keep the artery open. In some cases, the stent may be put into the artery before the balloon is inflated. Then the inflation of the balloon will open the artery and fully expand the stent.
The doctor will take measurements, pictures, or angiograms after the artery has been opened. Once it has been determined that the artery is opened sufficiently, the catheter will be removed.
The sheath or introducer is taken out and the insertion site may be closed with a closure device that uses collagen to seal the opening in the artery, by the use of sutures, or by applying manual pressure over the area to keep the blood vessel from bleeding. Your doctor will decide which method is best for you.
If a closure device is used, a sterile dressing will be applied to the site. If manual pressure is used, the doctor (or an assistant) will hold pressure on the insertion site so that a clot will form on the outside of the blood vessel to prevent bleeding. Once the bleeding has stopped, a very tight bandage will be placed on the site.
Staff will help you slide from the table onto a stretcher so that you can be taken to the recovery area. NOTE: If the insertion was in the groin, you will not be allowed to bend your leg for several hours. If the insertion site was in the arm, your arm will be kept elevated on pillows and kept straight by placing your arm in an arm guard (a plastic arm board designed to immobilize the elbow joint). In addition, a plastic band (that works like a belt around the waist) may be secured around your arm near the insertion site. The band will be loosened at given intervals and then removed when your doctor decides the pressure is no longer needed.
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