Font Size: Increase | Decrease

How does different stent material affect healing time after an angioplasty?

In the angioplasty procedure following a thrombectomy, I know that doctors use stents made of plastic, metal, or fabric. How does this different stent material affect healing time after an angioplasty?


Doctors Answers (3)

That depends on the location and indication. Your physician should be able to give details.

Stents are typically an expanded rigid mesh that are inserted in problem areas to help keep a blood vessel from collapsing or closing. As a foreign material, the stents can trigger clot formation themselves and typically the patient needs anti-coagulation for a period of time after the procedure. The stent will eventually be coated with a layer of endothelial cells that normally line the inside of blood vessels and the stent should then be relatively inert as it will not come in direct contact with blood once it is coated with endothelial cells. Different materials have different properties of strength, rigidity, bio-compatibility, flexibility, smoothness, etc., so the choice of material can depend on the size and location of the vessel to have a stent placed.

All stent materials are similar.
