A stent is a tiny tube that can be placed inside a hollow structure in the body, such as an artery or vein, to hold it open. Stents are often used to treat narrowed or blocked arteries that provide the heart with oxygen-rich blood. They can also be used to treat peripheral artery disease, renal artery disease, and carotid artery disease. Stents are tube-shaped devices that stay inside the artery permanently and are made of metal mesh or plastic. There are different types of stents, including bare metal stents, drug-eluting stents, and biodegradable stents.

Bare metal stents keep the artery open after angioplasty has pushed a buildup of plaque to the artery walls. Drug-eluting stents have medicine on them to help prevent the artery from getting narrow again. Biodegradable stents are still being experimented with and are not currently available in clinical practice.

To put a stent in, a doctor makes a small cut in a blood vessel in the groin, arm, or neck and threads a thin tube called a catheter through the blood vessel to the blocked artery. The tube has a tiny balloon at the end of it, which the doctor inflates inside the blocked artery to widen it so blood can flow through it again. The stent is then placed inside the artery and stays there to keep the artery open.

Stents can help blood vessels work better after a provider moves aside an accumulation of plaque inside them. They can reduce symptoms like chest pain and help treat a heart attack. After getting a stent, it is important to attend all follow-up appointments and make lifestyle changes to prevent plaque buildup inside the arteries, such as exercising more, losing weight if overweight, and quitting smoking.