After having a planned (non-emergency) coronary angioplasty, you'll usually be able to leave hospital the same day or following day.
Usually, patients stay overnight and return home the day after the procedure. Some may even go home the same day. The amount of time that you stay in the hospital will depend on if there were any difficulties during the procedure and how well the catheter insertion site is healing.
For the first five days, do only light activities.
Walking, climbing stairs and taking care of routine activities are usually fine. After five days, your doctor will likely say you can resume moderate activities, but you should avoid over-exertion that leads to shortness of breath, tiredness or chest pain.
These procedures are usually done on an outpatient basis, meaning you should be free to return home only a few hours afterward.
A coronary angioplasty sometimes involves an overnight stay in hospital, but many people can go home on the same day if the procedure is straightforward.
After having a planned (non-emergency) coronary angioplasty, you'll usually be able to leave hospital the same day or following day.
Just after the procedure
Once your blood pressure, pulse, and breathing are stable and you are alert, you may be taken to the intensive care unit (ICU) or a regular hospital room. If the sheath was left in the insertion site, it will be taken out of the groin or arm at the right time.
Driving after a heart attack and a stent
If you had a heart attack and a stent (angioplasty) at the same time, you should not drive for at least two weeks.
You will be asleep for most stent procedures, so plan to have someone else take you home. You may go home the same day or after a few days, depending on the type of stent and your other medical conditions.
You will be awake during the procedure. The doctor will use live x-ray pictures to carefully guide the catheter up into your heart and arteries. Liquid contrast (sometimes called "dye," will be injected into your body to highlight blood flow through the arteries.
Cardiac stent procedures were most commonly performed among patients aged 65 to 84 years old for both sexes—and were rare among patients under the age of 45.
First few days after the procedure
A patient may feel more tired than usual, in the first few days. Drinking plenty of fluids is also usually recommended in order to flush out any residual contrast dye which is typically used during the procedure to visualize the arteries.
You will need to take medicines to prevent a blood clot from forming in the stent. You may need to take other medicines as well. Resume normal physical activity and return to work when your provider says it's okay. For most people, this can happen within a few days to a week.
What should you expect? The procedure may take place right after the arteriogram, which is used to find the blockage, or it may occur the next day. You may need to stay in the hospital two or three days.
You can have episodes of pain or discomfort as the stent settles into place. This pain is usually felt quite locally in the chest, and is often described as sharp or stabbing. This type of pain can often be relieved by taking acetaminophen (Tylenol).”
Avoid strenuous exercise and lifting heavy objects for at least a day afterward. Ask your doctor or nurse about other restrictions in activity. Call your doctor's office or hospital staff immediately if: The site where your catheter was inserted starts bleeding or swelling.
Stenting is a minimally invasive procedure, meaning it is not considered major surgery. Stents can be made of metal mesh, fabric, silicone, or combinations of materials. Stents used for coronary arteries are made of metal mesh. Fabric stents, also called stent grafts, are used in larger arteries such as the aorta.
They found a 1‐year mortality rate of 24% that increased to 36% at long‐term follow‐up with a median of 5.3 years.
Stenting is ideal when there are just 1 or 2 blockages and they are not major. Patients are discharged quickly and can resume a normal life within a week. A cardiologist will conduct tests to note the extent of blockages and evaluate various parameters to decide whether you are a candidate for bypass or stenting.
Bedrest may vary from two to six hours depending on your specific condition. If your physician placed a closure device, your bedrest may be of shorter duration. In some cases, the sheath or introducer may be left in the insertion site.
It is usually inserted using an endoscope passed through the mouth, stomach and duodenum until it reaches the bile duct. You may have this procedure as an outpatient or stay in hospital for 1–2 days. Sometimes the stent needs to be inserted directly through the skin and liver into the bile duct.
Keep the area where the catheter was inserted dry for 24 to 48 hours. If the provider put the catheter in through your groin: Walking short distances on a flat surface is OK. Limit going up and down stairs to around 2 times a day for the first 2 to 3 days.
Myth: The angioplasty procedure and stent fixed my heart problems. Fact: You should feel better immediately after your angioplasty because it opened your blocked blood vessel and blood started to flow freely.
Once the cardiologist is happy that it is in the right position, the balloon is inflated, widening the narrowed part of the artery and expanding the stent to fit the artery wall. Then the catheter, balloon and wire are removed, leaving the stent in place. The procedure usually takes 30–60 minutes.
It depends primarily on the underlying heart disease, age, and medical condition of the patient. A younger patient, for example, who has a strong heart and has never experienced a heart attack, will be expected to live a full and active lifespan.