Is a Stent Your Best Option?

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What to Do If You Already Have a Stent

The first thing I tell concerned patients is not to be alarmed about what they hear in the media and to ask important questions about their care.

No treatment is risk-free, and any stent may well have been the absolute best choice for their condition when it was placed. Stents have saved lives and relieved symptoms for thousands of people.

The risk of late clotting, especially if patients stop taking aspirin or Plavix, is real, but rare. The devil here is really in the detail. Any treatment needs to be administered appropriately, meaning not over- or underused and with all alternatives considered.

For instance, emergency use of stents to prevent an impending heart attack or treat a patient having one saves lives and has better outcomes, particularly in women, than medicine, clot-busting drugs, or balloon angioplasty alone.

If you have a stent, make sure you know whether it is bare-metal or drug-coated and whether you should be on dual antiplatelet treatment. Available data is reassuring in that long-term safety outcomes are similar between the two types of stents.

If you’re concerned, talk with your doctor about your risk factors and any questions you might have.