Stenting. A word you have no doubt heard at the cardiologist’s, or in the news, or from someone you know who has coronary heart disease. Many have heard the word, and want to know what exactly the term ‘STENTING’ means, what are the kinds of stents used and when stents are used.
Keep reading to clear some of the questions you may have about Stents and Stenting.
What is a stent?
A stent is an artificial tube that is inserted in the natural passages of the body in case of a blockage that may cause difficulty o flow through the passage.
What are the different types of stents that are used?
1 Coronary stents are the stents placed in the coronary arteries that supply to the heart, in order to keep the arteries open while treating coronary heart diseases or narrowing of the arteries. A drug-eluting stent is a kind of coronary stent, coated with drugs that are released to prevent fibrosis or clots that can cause the artery to block.
2 Ureteral stents are used to ensure that the flow through the ureter is not constricted in cases like kidney stone. The procedure is sometimes also used to prevent a blocked kidney till an alternate measure to remove the stone is taken.
3 Urethral stents, also known as prostatic stents are used in men case of difficulty in urination. Sometimes the urethra is pushed by an enlarged prostate. This cause a block in the flow in urine, and this blockage can be overcome by inserting a urethral stent, which can be either a temporary or a permanent stent. Both, temporary and permanent stents are effective and well tolerated by the patients.
4 Esophageal stents, inserted in the esophagus so that the patient does not experience difficulty in swallowing. These stents are usually self-expanding metallic stents, but can also be made of plastic or silicone.
In certain cases, these stents are also used in the treatment of esophageal cancer.
5 Biliary stent used in Biliary drainage. A procedure performed to relieve the blockage in the bile duct. This can be either a permanent mode of treatment or a temporary solution provided prior to a necessary surgical procedure.
Some of the other types of stents are duodenal stents, colonic stents and pancreatic stents, used in necessary cases to relieve the blockages in the respective organs.
What are the conditions where stents are used?
Stents are used in cases where a tube in the body is blocked, thus causing an obstruction to the flow through these tubes. The stents help keep the tubes open in case of a narrowing and thus facilitating easy flow through the tubes. Sometimes a drug-eluting stent is used in very narrow arteries. These stents release drugs that prevent fibrosis and clots in the arteries, which can otherwise cause a blockage in the stented arteries (restonis).
What is a stent graft? How is it different from an average stent?
A stent graft is an artificial tube which is composed of a special fabric and supported on a metal stent. It is different from n average metal stent as an average stent has no covering.
These kinds of stents are mostly used in vascular interventions, mainly in endovascular surgery.
Stenting is a procedure performed that has been performed at AHI for years, and you can feel free to write to us in case of any queries that you may have regarding the procedure.
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