Sushmita Sen
Recently in an interview, actress Sushmita Sen said a surprising thing. According to Sen, when the stent was put on her after the heart attack, she was completely conscious and was watching the procedure herself. He was not made unconscious during this period. But the common belief is that during angioplasty (during stent insertion), the patient is made unconscious by giving anesthesia. In such a situation, a big question arises whether the patient really remains conscious during the process of stent insertion or was Sushmita Sen’s case an exception? To know about this, we have talked to cardiologist and heart surgeon.
about this Dr. Ajit Jain, Associate Professor and Surgeon in the Department of Cardiology at Rajiv Gandhi Superspeciality Hospital, Delhi. has told, Dr. Jain says that routine tests are done on the patient before the stent is inserted. In this, BP, sugar and other parameters are checked. If its report is normal then stunt work is done. For this, first a hole is made near the patient’s thigh. Through this, a balloon is placed in a thin tube (catheter) and taken through the veins to the heart. All this work is done by looking at a screen.
When the tube reaches the heart, the stent inside the balloon also reaches the heart and the balloon is opened near the blocked vein there. Due to this, the stent gets stuck in the vein and the dirt present around it goes to the side. After this, the air in the balloon is released and it is taken out again through the vein and the stunt remains in place.
During this period, the patient is kept under close observation of doctors for a few hours. The patient does not suffer severe pain. Only a slight pain is felt which subsides after some time. According to his health, he is discharged from the hospital. The time of discharge depends on the recovery of the patient.
Isn’t every patient undergoing a stent anesthetized?
Dr. Varun Bansal in the Department of Cardiology at Apollo Hospital, Delhi. It is said that in most of the cases, stents are inserted under general anesthesia (without making the patient unconscious). There are some patients who come on their own and say that they want to get a stunt done without anesthesia. The procedure is done to the patients by giving only one injection. This injection is given to numb the area near the thigh so that there is no pain while inserting the tube.
According to Dr. Bansal, general anesthesia is given only in bypass surgery, that is, the patient is made unconscious. This is required in stunts when the patient is elderly or does not want to undergo this procedure without anesthesia.