What should I do if I feel uncomfortable again after having my heart stent placed? You must know these 3 questions

After the heart stent is placed, many heart patients will fall into two extremes:

Some people think that stents have "cured" heart disease, and that any discomfort they experience has nothing to do with the heart, and that they don't even need to take medicine;

Some people, however, become "cautious", always worrying that the stent may deform or fall off, and suspect that there is something wrong with the stent if they feel the slightest discomfort.

Both of these ideas are dangerous!

What should patients do if they feel uncomfortable again after stent placement? You must know these 3 questions:

1. How to identify whether the symptoms are related to the stent?

7. 1. Sublingual nitroglycerin When discomfort occurs, you can try to sublingually take emergency medicines such as nitroglycerin or nitroglycerin. If the symptoms are relieved faster than before, it indicates that the cardiovascular system may have narrowed again. However, if the symptoms are not relieved significantly, or even sweating occurs, do not sublingually take it repeatedly. This is because it may be a myocardial infarction caused by complete blockage of the stent. Sublingual nitroglycerin is not only ineffective, but may even cause hypotension or even shock due to the use of vasodilators.

8. 2. Holter monitoring method When stent stenosis induces myocardial ischemia, the electrocardiogram usually changes significantly, but it often only lasts for a few minutes and then disappears, which is difficult to be captured in time by ordinary electrocardiograms. Wearing a 24-hour Holter monitor can record electrocardiogram changes at any time, improving the accuracy of detecting myocardial ischemia.

2. Will the discomfort symptoms be life-threatening?

There are two common manifestations of stent problems:

13. 1. Acute blockage in the stent is usually caused by thrombosis. The patient's chest pain and tightness are usually severe and sudden, often causing acute myocardial infarction and even life-threatening.
14. 2. Stenosis occurs in the stent, which is usually caused by the gradual proliferation of vascular endothelial cells. The symptoms are relatively mild, similar to the symptoms of angina before stent implantation, and can usually be relieved by the use of vasodilator drugs. As long as the patient seeks medical treatment in time, the risk of death can be effectively reduced. 3. What should we do after the symptoms appear?

If you experience discomfort after stent implantation and meet the following three conditions, you need to go to the hospital for a cardiac angiography review in a timely manner:

17. 1. Symptoms similar to those before stent implantation;
18. 2. Patients have stopped taking or missed taking aspirin or clopidogrel;
19. 3. The stent has been implanted for a long time, or a large number of stents have been implanted; Some patients may ask: Can I do coronary CTA instead of cardiac angiography? Coronary CTA can determine the stenosis of common cardiovascular diseases, but the lumen in the stent is poorly visualized and is often difficult to accurately determine. Therefore, coronary CTA is not recommended as a routine follow-up examination after stenting.

I am Dr. Zhang from the Department of Cardiology. If you like my popular science articles, please like them! Follow me to learn more about heart disease! You can also share this article with friends in need!