Endovascular Stenting
Milford Vascular Institute places stents at the Outpatient Based Laboratory and Milford Hospital.
What is a stent?
A stent is a tiny wire mesh tube. It is used to prop open the walls of a blood vessel.
Why do I need a stent?
When a blood vessel becomes blocked or collapsed, a stent is used to reopen the vessel to restore blood flow. In arteries, stents are typically placed to reopen vessels clogged by atherosclerotic build up. In veins, stents are typically placed to reopen collapsed or compressed veins.
Where can stents be placed in my body?
You can have a stent placed in almost any blood vessel in the body. At Milford Vascular, our surgeons place stents in peripheral and mesenteric arteries and iliac veins in our outpatient based laboratory. They also perform endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs using stenting at Milford Hospital.
Stents can also be placed in the coronary arteries around the heart to restore blood flow to the heart tissue to prevent or help patients recover from a heart attack.
What can I expect when having a stent placement?
Stent in an artery in the leg: To prepare you for the procedure, the area of your groin where the delivery catheter and stent are introduced will be cleaned and shaved. You will meet with the nurse anesthetist who will explain to you what to expect. The nurse with then begin to administer the anesthesia. You will be under twilight sedation.
After the anesthesia has taken effect, your surgeon will make a small incision in one of your thighs. The incision will be opposite the side where the stent will be deployed. Using x-rays to see the exact location of the aneurysm, the surgeon will guide the delivery catheter through the vessels to the site of the blockage.
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X-rays and ultrasound imaging help the doctor make sure that the stent graft is properly placed.
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After the procedure, you should rest for the remainder of the day. Continue to drink plenty of fluids. Avoid excessive lifting and bending. If bleeding occurs at the puncture site, apply firm direct pressure to the site. If bleeding continues, call your doctor or go to the emergency room. You can resume normal activity the following day.
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Stent in a vein in leg: To prepare you for the procedure, the area of your groin where the delivery catheter and stent are introduced will be cleaned and shaved. You will meet with the nurse anesthetist who will explain to you what to expect. The nurse with then begin to administer the anesthesia. You will be under twilight sedation.
After the anesthesia has taken effect, your surgeon will make a small incision in one of your thighs. The incision will be the same side the stent will be placed. Using x-rays to see the exact location of the aneurysm, the surgeon will guide the delivery catheter through the vessels to the site of the blockage.
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X-rays and ultrasound imaging help the doctor make sure that the stent graft is properly placed.
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After the procedure, you should rest for the remainder of the day. Continue to drink plenty of fluids. Avoid excessive lifting and bending. If bleeding occurs at the puncture site, apply firm direct pressure to the site. If bleeding continues, call your doctor or go to the emergency room. You can resume normal activity the following day.
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Stent in the abdominal aorta: To prepare you for the procedure, the area of your groin where the delivery catheter and stent are introduced will be cleaned and shaved. Then you will receive either local anesthesia, to numb the area of the surgery, or general anesthesia to put you to sleep during the surgery.
After the anesthesia has taken effect, your surgeon will make a small incision in both of your thighs. Using x-rays to see the exact location of the aneurysm, the surgeon will guide the delivery catheter through the large vessel in your thigh (iliac vessel) to the aneurysm site in your abdomen.
The stent graft is slowly released from the delivery catheter into the aorta. As the stent graft is released, it expands to the proper size so that it fits into the aorta both above and below the aneurysm.
The delivery catheter is then withdrawn and removed, leaving the stent graft within the aorta. Depending on the shape and size of your aortic aneurysm, additional stent grafts may be placed to ensure that the aneurysm is completely excluded from normal blood flow.
X-rays and ultrasound imaging help the doctor make sure that the stent graft is properly placed and excluding blood flow to your abdominal aortic aneurysm.
What to expect after a stent placement?
You may experience some soreness after the procedure. If you had a stent placed in an artery, you may also experience some tingling in your extremity. If your stent was placed in a vein, you should see a decrease in swelling in your extremity. In both cases, this is normal; the blood flow has simply been restored. The sensation should not last more than a few days.
Things to watch for after having a stent placed:
If you experience any of the follow symptoms after your procedure, call the office immediately: numbness, bleeding at the incision site, redness at the incision site, fever or chills, or swelling.