Is stenting superior to conventional angioplasty?
Balloon expandable stents were introduced to prevent complications and sudden closure after ordinary angioplasty. The stent was first approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1992 for the emergency management of abrupt vessel closure after angioplasty the so called bailout indication. But few trials have proved tant routine placement of stent (not bail out stenting) may reduce the restenosis rate of angioplysty, which is a great draw back of conventional PTCA. Some studies has document that stenting may reduce the incidence of restenosis after the procedure. In one study restenosis rate was 32% in conventional angioplasty and 22% in stentiion group and in another study restenosis rate was 43% in angioplasty patients and 30% in stented patients. So it is believed that coronary stenitng may be superior to ordinary balloon angioplasty and can reduce reocclusion rate significantly.
