Hi, I need your advice. My mom has a block which was confirmed during an angiogram and Docs have advised to go for Angioplasty. I happened to hear that there is a treatment where Docs remove block by injecting I V 2 medicine by drips. Could you please advice if this treatment is more effective than an angioplasty.
Hello. Thank you for your question and welcome to Chat Doctor. I understand your concern. PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) is a procedure where a stent is placed in a coronary artery, after balloon inflation. This is a safe and effective procedure for treating a plaque that is narrowing or blocking the blood flow in the coronary artery. It is accompanied by a small percentage of minor and/or major complications, which you were provided before the procedure, in your informed consent. This is what happens in my experience, and I would recommend that she should go on and do it. As about the injections, I will assume that you are referring to the agents that lose ("melt") the thrombus in the coronary artery (such as, streptokinase, release, alternate, tenecteplase). These agents are used when a patient suffers a heart attack, in the acute phase, caused by a total blockage to the coronary artery caused by a thrombus (blood clot). They are usually used to "buy time" until a healthcare facility to perform primary PCI is available. I hope I was helpful. Take care. Good luck!