Coronary angioplasty is a procedure wherein narrowing or blockages in the coronary arteries are repaired using very small stents and balloons.
Your Cardiologist will be inflating very small balloons inside the narrowed artery, to enable the stent to be positioned. These inflations are generally very brief (5 – 30 seconds) and it is possible that you may experience some chest pain (angina), chest tightness or heaviness, while this is happening. This discomfort is often transient.
This can take an additional hour or so.
Alternatively, an angioplasty/stenting procedure may be scheduled for a later date, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) may be recommended.
Stents are metal mesh tubes. They are used to open a narrowed or blocked artery and increase blood flow to the heart muscle. They act as an internal support framework to hold the artery open by continuing to press the plaque back into the inside of the artery wall.
You will need to stay in hospital for at least 6 hours after your angioplasty, possibly overnight.