ACS Q&A – Dr. Smith: What Types of Stents are Available?

There are a variety of different types of stents. They generally fall into two main categories: bare metal stents and drug-eluting stents.

Bare metal stents do not have any type of drug coating. They are used to hold open a blocked blood vessel. All stents are essentially small wire mesh tubes that are implanted into an artery to keep it open. Bare metal stents perform this function without any medication coating.

The second type is a drug-eluting stent (sometimes referred to as a medicated stent). Like bare metal stents, they are small wire mesh tubes that are placed inside the artery to keep it open. However, drug-eluting stents have a medication coating that changes the characteristics of the artery after the procedure. This medication helps further treat the artery.It is primarily designed to reduce the risk of the artery becoming blocked again at the stent site in the future.