Stents What to Expect After Getting a Stent

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Before you leave the hospital, you will be given instructions for your home care.

• Follow your healthcare provider’s directions for medicines. You will need to take medicines to prevent a blood clot from forming in the stent. You may need to take other medicines as well.
• Resume normal physical activity and return to work when your provider says it’s okay. For most people, this can happen within a few days to a week.
• Make a follow-up appointment. Your provider will need to check on your progress and make sure there are no problems.

There are risks from placing a stent in an artery, including:

• Allergic reactions to the contrast dye used to show the blood vessels by X-ray
• Arrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat
• Bleeding or discomfort where the catheter was inserted
• Damage to blood vessels from the catheter
• Infection
• Rarely, damage to kidneys from contrast dye

It’s also rare for more serious or life-threatening problems to occur during a stenting procedure. People who have had other procedures to treat blocked arteries or who have congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, or diabetes are usually at higher risk for complications, which may include:

• Blood flow being cut off from the gut or the lower part of the body during an aortic aneurysm repair
• Heart attack
• Rupture of aortic aneurysm
• Stroke
• Tear in the artery

Risks from an airway stenting procedure include:

• Arrhythmia
• Cardiac arrest
• Needing a tracheostomy
• Pneumothorax
• Respiratory failure