What is balloon angioplasty and coronary bypass surgery?
Balloon angioplasty is a nonsurgical approach to alleviating the blockage in an artery caused by plaque formation. Although mildly sedated, the patient is fully conscious during the procedure, with most patients noting a feeling of pressure discomfort but no actual pain. Of course, this will vary depending on the patient’s tolerance level. A small incision is made in the groin area where one of the major arteries of the body, the femoral artery, is entered. This site is chosen because complications are less likely to occur. A minute-sized tubing especially designed for this procedure, called a balloon-tipped catheter, is then inserted into the artery and advanced into the heart with the aid of a radiographic technique called fluoroscopy, which allows the surgeon to visualize on a television monitor the progression of the catheter. Once the catheter is positioned in the appropriate coronary artery at the site of blockage, the small balloon is inflated and decompressed multiple times. Fo
