Is a Stent Your Best Option?

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Two Types of Stents

Talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of bare metal versus drug-eluting stents.

Bare-metal stents are just that, bare metal mesh tubes.

Drug-eluting stents are coated with a special medication that releases over time to prevent scar tissue from forming in the tube.

When doctors began using stents, artery reclosure (or restenosis) occurred in certain patients. Researchers found that by coating stents with a substance that would prevent the regrowth of tissue within the stent, doctors could reduce restenosis to less than 10 percent. As a result, drug-eluting stents largely replaced the use of the older bare-metal stents.

But there is a trade-off.

Until a stent becomes coated with a layer of the patient’s own cells, there is an increased risk of a sudden blood clot forming on the exposed metal, which can lead to a heart attack or death.

To prevent these clots from forming, doctors prescribe a combination of aspirin and a second blood-thinning medication (most often clopidogrel/Plavix).

Bare metal stents become coated with the patient’s cells within a few months, meaning the risk of clots virtually disappears at that point so patients can stop taking anticlotting drugs.