Stent for arteriosclerosis

What is a stent?

A stent is a very small tube your healthcare provider can put inside your artery to keep it open after they move plaque (cholesterol and fat) out of the way. This helps your blood get through your artery more easily.

Types of stents

Stents are tube-shaped devices that stay inside your artery permanently. They look like tiny fishing nets made of metal instead of organic or man-made fiber.

• A bare metal (nickel-titanium alloy or stainless steel) stent keeps your artery open after angioplasty has pushed a buildup of plaque to the artery walls.
• A drug-eluting stent does the same thing as a bare-metal stent, but it has medicine on it to help prevent your artery from getting narrow again.
• Researchers are experimenting with biodegradable stents, although these aren’t currently available in clinical practice.

Why is a stent used?

Healthcare providers use stents to keep an artery from getting too narrow or blocked, which keeps blood from going through easily. You may need one if you’ve had a heart attack or if you have atherosclerosis (plaque collecting inside your artery).

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