About Your Stent Procedure
Because you experienced a heart attack or heart-related chest pain while at rest (unstable angina), you underwent a procedure known as angioplasty.
During this procedure, your doctor may have placed a stent 
inside the blocked or partially
blocked artery in your heart.
What Is PCI?
A PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) is often called balloon angioplasty, because it is performed using a slender balloon-tipped tube called a
catheter. The catheter is threaded through an artery in the groin (femoral artery) or arm
(brachial artery) to the trouble spot in an artery. The balloon is then inflated, pushing back the plaque (fatty buildup), and widening the narrowed artery
so that blood can flow more easily. In over 80% of cases, angioplasty involves the insertion of a stent.
Arteries carry blood cells and platelets throughout the body. Sometimes plaque can build
up in your arteries due to fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances also found in the blood.
Over time, plaque builds up on the heart artery walls. The plaque may rupture, causing the platelets in your blood to form a clot around the rupture, adding to the blockage in your artery. This can lead to heart-related chest pain at rest (unstable angina) or a heart attack.
During an angioplasty procedure, a balloon inflates to push the plaque back against the artery wall. When the stent around the balloon expands, it locks in place
and holds the artery open. This restores blood flow in the arteries in your heart.
What Is a Stent?
A stent is a tiny structure made of wire mesh, similar to a spring found inside a ballpoint pen. Many patients who have had a heart attack or chest pain
will receive an angioplasty, which usually includes a stent placement. When the balloon is inflated during an angioplasty, the stent expands, locks in place,
and holds the artery open.
There are two different types of stents—drug-eluting stents and bare-metal stents. Your doctor has decided which stent is right for you. A drug-eluting stent
has a medicated coating that is slowly released over time to prevent too much scar tissue from growing over the stent and narrowing the artery again. This is
called in-stent restenosis. A stent that is not coated with a drug is called a bare-metal stent.
Precautions Following a Stent Procedure
To help avoid the formation of future blood clots within your stent and arteries, your doctor has prescribed antiplatelet medication. Antiplatelets such as
aspirin and Effient can help keep the stent and your artery free of clots. Always take your medicine for as long as your doctor prescribes.
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