Drug-eluting stents; Urinary or ureteral stents; Coronary stents

Most of the time, stents are used to treat conditions that result when arteries become narrow or blocked.

Stents are commonly used to treat the following conditions that result from blocked or damaged blood vessels:

• Coronary heart disease (CHD) (angioplasty and stent placement - heart)
• Peripheral artery disease (angioplasty and stent replacement - peripheral arteries)
• Renal artery stenosis
• Abdominal aortic aneurysm (aortic aneurysm repair - endovascular)
• Carotid artery disease (carotid artery surgery)

Other reasons to use stents include:

• Keeping open a blocked or damaged ureter (percutaneous urinary procedures)
• Treating aneurysms, including thoracic aortic aneurysms
• Keeping bile flowing in blocked bile ducts (biliary stricture)
• Helping you breathe if you have a blockage in the airways

See also:

• Angioplasty and stent placement - heart
• Angioplasty and stent placement - peripheral arteries
• Percutaneous urinary procedures
• Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS)
• Carotid artery surgery
• Aortic aneurysm repair - endovascular
• Thoracic aortic aneurysm

Teirstein PS, Lytle BW. Interventional and surgicaltreatment of coronary artery disease. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 74.

White CJ. Atherosclerotic peripheral arterial disease. In:Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 79.

Zeidel ML. Obstructive uropathy. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI,eds. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 125.