While this might be John’s story, it is not everyone’s story. For example, CBS News reported about Pearl Sullivan, who visited a hospital in New Jersey complaining of shortness of breath. Doctors performed an angioplasty, during which Pearl died. Her family filed a lawsuit against the doctors and the hospital.
With so many competing stories about angioplasty, it might be hard to decide if you are a good candidate for the surgery. Educating yourself on the procedure and recovery involved in angioplasty is one strategy that may help you decide if it is right for you. Therefore, below is information about the procedure and recovery associated with angioplasty, along with the risks and benefits of surgery.
What is Angioplasty?
When you have an angioplasty, a vascular surgeon inserts and then inflates a small balloon inside a narrowed blood vessel. The balloon is there to widen your blood vessel and improve blood flow. Once the blood vessel is widened, your vascular surgeon may implant a stent or a tiny mesh metal tube that helps support your artery walls stay open, allowing blood to flow better through your blood vessels.
Often, angioplasty and stenting are performed through a small puncture or incision in the skin called an access site. Your vascular surgeon inserts a long tube called a catheter into the access site, then the surgeon directs the tube through blood vessels to the blocked artery with the aid of an X-ray. The end of the catheter is what carries the balloon or stent to the blocked artery, where the vascular surgeon inflates the balloon and implants the stent. The stent is only placed in the artery if the surgeon believes the artery walls have a chance of collapsing again.