Stents: What They Are, How They Work, and What You Need to Know

When your heart arteries get clogged, a stent, a small mesh tube placed inside a blocked artery to keep it open. Also known as a coronary stent, it's one of the most common cardiac interventions in India today. Stents aren’t magic—they don’t cure heart disease—but they do restore blood flow fast, often saving lives during a heart attack or preventing one in high-risk patients.

Stents are placed during a procedure called angioplasty, a minimally invasive technique where a balloon-tipped catheter opens narrowed arteries. The stent locks into place like a scaffold, holding the artery open. Most are made of metal, but some are coated with medicine to prevent re-blocking—a big deal because restenosis used to be a common problem. In India, over 800,000 stents are implanted yearly, mostly in private hospitals, but government schemes now cover many low-income patients too.

Not everyone with clogged arteries needs a stent. Doctors look at symptoms, stress test results, and artery blockage severity. If you’re having chest pain at rest, or if one major artery is 70% blocked, a stent might be recommended. But if your blockages are mild or spread out, medication and lifestyle changes often work better. Many patients in Bangalore and Delhi avoid stents by switching to walking daily, cutting sugar, and managing stress—just like the ones in our posts who delayed surgery with simple habits.

There’s also a big difference between bare-metal and drug-coated stents. Drug-coated ones last longer but require longer use of blood thinners. That’s why some patients, especially older ones or those with bleeding risks, are carefully evaluated before choosing. And while stents are safe, they’re not risk-free—infection, clotting, or stent migration can happen, though rarely.

What you won’t find in brochures: recovery isn’t about resting for weeks. Most people walk the same day. You’ll need to take aspirin and another blood thinner for months. And yes, you still have to change your diet. A stent fixes the pipe, but if you keep pouring grease down it, it’ll clog again. That’s why our posts cover everything from what to eat after stent placement to how walking helps your heart heal.

Stents don’t mean you’re out of the woods—they mean you’ve got a second chance. And how you use it matters more than the metal in your artery.