Angioplasty surgery is a type of surgery that involves the treatment of opening a blocked or narrowed artery that is found around the heart. So, this surgery is done to treat heart-related diseases such as Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) or mainly heart attacks.
If a patient's artery near his/ her heart gets blocked or narrowed, then the doctor or surgeon will do surgery by inserting a tube into the vein near the wrist. Then the tube has to be threaded, which is connected to the artery near the heart. After that, the artery will be opened by inserting a balloon. This process of surgery is called Angioplasty Surgery. Angioplasty surgery is mainly done for the patient suffering from Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) or heart attacks.
If we compare Angioplasty with other heart surgery types, Angioplasty is a lot quicker, easy, and doesn't need to cut open up the chest. Doctors recommend this surgery to patients suffering from:
●Treat an abnormal stress test.
●Increase blood flow to the heart
●Reduce chest pain
●Improve blood supply to the heart muscle during or after a heart attack.
Types of Angioplasty surgery
There are mainly two types of angioplasty surgery.
●Balloon Angioplasty- In this is the process of inserting a balloon in the artery to clear any plague blocking the artery around the heart.
●Stent Placement – when doctors cannot place a balloon, they have to involve a stent, which is made up of wire mesh, helping the artery preventing from narrowing again after the surgery.
Procedure
●At first, the doctor will clean and numb the wrist area from where the catheter enters the body.
●After that, while watching the X-ray doctor will insert the catheter inside the artery and push it towards the coronary artery.
●After the catheter is positioned, the doctor will insert a contact dye through the artery, which helps identify the blockage portion around the heart.
●After finding the blockage doctor will insert the second catheter, and with the help of a balloon, the doctor will remove the plaque from the artery around the heart. Eventually, the artery will be opened, but sometimes a doctor may need a stent to keep the artery open.
This surgery can take about 30 – 60 minutes; however, sometimes it may take a few hours to complete the process.
Risks of the surgery
Although risks of the surgery are very small and happen to a very small amount of people, so, some of the risks are mentioned below:
●Prolonged bleeding from the catheter insertion site in the groin or wrist
●Damage to blood vessels and kidneys
●An allergic reaction to the dye
●Chest pain
●Abnormal heart rhythm
●A blockage that requires an emergency bypass
●Clotting of blood
●Any kind of stroke
●Heart attack
●Death
Recovery
Once the surgery is complete, the surgeon will remove the catheter and bandages. The patient can be seen with some soreness, bruises, and bleeding around the wrist where the catheter was inserted. It can take up to 1-2 weeks for a patient to recover fully to go to work again.
Conclusion
This is a very safe procedure that the doctor uses to remove the plaque from the heart. There may be a very little risk while doing Angioplasty surgery, but it will be easy for an experienced doctor.
Final Words
Angioplasty is a type of surgery that a doctor performs to remove any plaque buildup from any patient's artery present around his heart. This surgery is done to treat heart-related diseases such as Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) or mainly heart attacks. Doctors over many years doing this surgery for many patients around the world.
