Why do I need to take aspirin and other anti-clotting medicines [such as clopidogrel (Plavix®), prasugrel (Effient®), or ticlopidine (Ticlid®)] if theres medicine in my stent?
To avoid getting blood clots in your stent. The drug-eluting stent is designed to prevent over-growth of the artery lining so that blood flow through the artery is maintained. Ideally, after stent placement there should be enough growth of the arterial lining to cover the stent, but not too much. Too much growth may narrow the channel through which blood flows. In some patients, not enough growth occurs, and portions of the stent are not covered by the artery lining. Blood clots can form and stick to uncovered parts of the stent. This is the reason patients with drug-eluting stents are advised to continue to take their anticlotting medicines (often called antiplatelet therapy) such as aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix®), prasugrel (Effient®), or ticlopidine (Ticlid®) for a long time. The formation of blood clots within a stent is called stent thrombosis.
