A blockage of one or both of the arteries supplying the kidneys, a condition known as renal artery stenosis, can cause serious damage to those vital organs and in extreme cases lead to kidney failure. To quickly remove such blockages and help to prevent their return, doctors use a form of angioplasty coupled with the placement of one or more stents, techniques similar to those used to deal with blockages in the arteries that supply the heart.
What Is a Stent?
According to Medtronic, a stent is an expandable wire-mesh tube that can be placed in an artery to keep the blood vessel from narrowing and compromising blood supply to the organ or tissue the artery feeds. It is most often inserted in an artery after a technique called balloon angioplasty has been used to clear away the atherosclerotic buildup of plaque on the artery's walls. RadiologyInfo indicates that angioplasty and stents are used to treat a variety of conditions, including blockages in carotid, coronary and renal arteries, and peripheral artery disease, a condition in which blood supply to the arms and legs is sharply reduced by the buildup of plaque in the arteries supplying them. Stents also can be used to treat venous narrowings in the chest or pelvis and narrowings in the fistula or grafts through which dialysis treatments are administered.
Reasons for Renal Stent
The decision that a renal stent is necessary is likely to be made by your doctor after diagnostic testing confirms that a significant blockage is present in one or both of your renal arteries. According to EdREN, the website of the Renal Unit of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland, the procedure (angioplasty and stent placement) is usually done to protect the kidney from further damage due to loss of the blood supply.
Placement of Stent
On the day of your procedure, which is usually done on an outpatient basis, you will check into the surgical center or hospital, put on a hospital gown and lie down on an x-ray table. According to Krames patient education information on the website of Geisinger's Health Library, an intravenous line will be started to allow easy administration of drugs and fluids.
A member of the angioplasty team will inject a local anesthetic into the area (usually the groin) in which the catheter is to be inserted. Next, a small incision will be made so that the thin, flexible catheter can be inserted. The catheter then is threaded through the arteries, using x-ray guidance, until it reaches the area of renal blockage. A tiny balloon at the forward tip of the catheter is inflated to push the accumulated plaque to the walls of the artery and allow the free flow of blood through the vessel.
Using the catheter as the delivery medium, an expandable wire-mesh stent is placed into the area of the artery that was blocked previously, and it is expanded to the walls of the vessel to hold it open and help to prevent the development of a new blockage.
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