| I know, the topic sounds so extraneous, but yes | | | | same artery in the leg and advance it across the |
| it true, today balloons are not only used for | | | | blockage. Then, the balloon-tipped catheter is |
| celebration or party purpose but they are also | | | | slipped over the guidewire and advanced to the |
| being applied in medical sciences for angioplasty. In | | | | blockage. When this catheter reaches the |
| medical science, angioplasty is a surgical procedure | | | | blockage, the balloon is inflated. As the balloon |
| in which very small balloons are inserted into | | | | expands, it presses against the plaque, |
| blocked or partially blocked blood vessels near the | | | | compressing it against the artery wall. The balloon |
| heart. Once in place, the balloon can be inflated to | | | | is then deflated. Doctors may inflate and deflate |
| clear or compress arterial plaque, and to stretch | | | | the balloon a number of times. The catheter, |
| the walls of the vein. A small stent can be | | | | guidewire, and deflated balloon are then removed. |
| inserted in its place to keep the vessel open after | | | | If doctors are placing a stent in the artery, the |
| the balloon's removal. See myocardial infarction. | | | | stent is put at the tip of the catheter, over the |
| Balloons are used in the majority of interventional | | | | balloon. When the catheter is positioned at the |
| procedures. These devices are inflated to | | | | blockage, the balloon is inflated, expanding the |
| compress the plaque against the artery wall, | | | | stent. Once the stent is open, the balloon is |
| much like footsteps in the snow, in a procedure | | | | deflated. The catheter, guidewire, and deflated |
| known as "angioplasty", sometimes called "balloon | | | | balloon are then removed, leaving the stent behind |
| dilatation", sometimes "PTCA" (percutaneous | | | | to hold the artery open. Firm pressure will be |
| transluminal coronary angioplasty). Certain | | | | applied to the site where the catheter was |
| catheters have balloons at their tip to keep them | | | | inserted to stop any bleeding. You will also be |
| from slipping out, for example the balloon of a | | | | bandaged. The whole procedure usually takes |
| Foley catheter is insufflated when the catheter is | | | | about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, and most patients will |
| inserted into the urinary bladder and secures its | | | | spend the night in the hospital. You may feel a |
| position. Angioplasty balloon catheters come in a | | | | little sleepy until the sedative has worn off. Nurses |
| wide range of lengths and diameters, and are | | | | will watch you during the night to see that your |
| made from a variety of materials, but the major | | | | heart rate and blood pressure are normal. Hence, |
| shared characteristic is that the balloon can inflate | | | | medical science proves that, balloons can |
| to a certain diameter and not beyond, thus | | | | somewhere stand as a life saving component for |
| allowing a predictable opening. During a balloon | | | | human beings. It save your heart and offer you a |
| angioplasty, patients are usually told not to eat or | | | | new life in the existing world. REPRINT RIGHTS |
| drink anything after midnight the night before the | | | | statement: This article is free for republishing by |
| procedure. Once you are in the cath lab, once | | | | visitors provided the Author Bio box is retained as |
| doctors know the exact location of the blockage, | | | | usual so that all links are Active/Linkable with no |
| they thread what is called a guidewire through the | | | | syntax changes. |