How To Perform Carotid Artery Stenting

The surgery is usually performed under local anesthesia. Before the surgery, the doctor will ask you to hold a toy that can make sounds so that he can monitor your nerve function at any time during the surgery. You will be given heparin as an anticoagulant to prevent blood clots from forming during the procedure, and atropine will be given to slow your heart rate.

After the operation begins, local anesthesia is first performed at the puncture site (usually the groin). After successful anesthesia, the doctor punctures the femoral artery and then inserts a slender guidewire along the blood vessel into the carotid artery. During this process, you will not feel any pain because there are no nerves in the blood vessel.

Then, the doctor uses angiography to understand the condition of the carotid artery. Next, the doctor will place a small filter over the lesion through the guide wire, which we call a brain umbrella, to intercept the fallen plaque residue and prevent small plaques from entering the cerebral blood vessels with the blood flow during the operation and causing brain damage.

After that, the doctor will place a balloon along the guide wire into the stenotic part of the carotid artery, and expand the stenotic part by expanding the balloon. When the stenotic lesion is completely dilated, a catheter with a compression stent at the front end will be introduced. When the stent is accurately positioned at the diseased site and released, the stent will then support the stenotic area to ensure that the stenotic area will not retract after expansion.

After the above operations are completed, the doctor removes the brain protective umbrella and other guide wires and catheters, compresses the puncture point for 15 to 30 minutes to prevent bleeding, and finally applies pressure to bandage the wound.