What it means
A device put in a narrowed or blocked passage to keep it open. A coronary stent is placed in a heart artery during a cardiac catheterization, often after the narrowing is widened with a balloon. Stents are also used in the ureters, bile ducts, airways and other arteries. Many coronary stents are coated with a drug that slows scar tissue growing back.
For the nurse
After a coronary stent, the client usually takes antiplatelet drugs, such as aspirin with clopidogrel, for months. Teach not to stop them without talking to the cardiologist, because a clot can form in the stent. After the procedure, check the puncture site and the pulses below it.
At a glance
| Spanish | stent, endoprótesis |
|---|---|
| Also written | stents, stented, stenting |
Related terms
coronary artery disease
Narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle, most often from fatty plaque buildup.
myocardial infarction
Death of part of the heart muscle because its blood supply is blocked; a heart attack.
coronary artery
One of the blood vessels on the surface of the heart that bring oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.
aspirin
A drug that eases pain, fever and inflammation and makes platelets less sticky so blood clots less easily.