Balloon Angioplasty

Cardiac ballooning or angioplasty is a procedure used to open closed arteries in the heart. In coronary angioplasty, a small balloon temporarily placed in the closed area of the artery tries to relieve the narrowing and blockage of the arteries and help to widen it. Angioplasty is a treatment performed by cardiologists for patients at risk for heart attack. It is also used to open the coronary arteries of the heart for patients who have had a heart attack. Angioplasty is performed with the help of thin tubes – called catheters – which are inserted into the coronary arteries through medical imaging devices. During the angioplasty procedure, the balloon attached to the head of the catheter begins to inflate when the catheter enters the blocked artery through the groin or arm. As the balloon inflates and enlarges, plaques formed in the arterial canal are pressed against the wall of the vessel. According to a cardiologist, this operation can be repeated several times. In angioplasty, after ballooning, a lace wire tube called a stent (spring) is inserted into the vessel to keep it open and prevent it from re-blocking.

This process is called stenting. Angioplasty usually does not require general anesthesia and is often performed under local anesthesia. The approximate time of angioplasty is about one hour. However, in cases where several arteries of the heart are narrowed and blocked, angioplasty can take several hours. For angioplasty and stenting, the patient receives sedatives as well as anticoagulants.

For which patients is cardiac angioplasty performed?

The arteries of a healthy person are smooth and flexible. As a result, blood flows easily in the arteries at different pressures. However, with the gradual formation of fatty plaques in the blood vessels of the heart, narrowing or blockage of the body’s arteries is achieved, which impairs blood flow. Smoking, obesity and overweight, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides all lead to these heart problems. Other causes include a family history of heart disease, unhealthy diet, and inactivity.

Angioplasty is also performed to open a blocked artery due to a heart attack. In general, it is the cardiologist who, depending on the specific physical condition of each patient, decides how to treat them: performing angioplasty or open coronary artery surgery. But in general, it can be said that patients who undergo angioplasty and stenting have less pain and discomfort than patients who undergo open surgeries, and they recover faster. Patients should normally fast 4 to 6 hours before angioplasty. Sometimes patients taking certain medications should stop taking them for a limited time before having angioplasty, as advised by their doctor.