The big questions surrounding stents are usually aimed at how long surgery should be delayed after a stent is placed and what should be done when emergency surgery is necessary. Below you can find the answers to these questions:

How Long Should Elective Surgery Be Delayed?

Bare Metal Stents (BMS): 30-45 days
examples: “R Stent”, Genous Bio-engineered R Stent, BxVelocity, Express 2 Matrix stent, Vision, MP35N Driver Stent, Omega BMS

Drug-Eluting Stents (DES), 1st Generation: 1 year
examples: Paclitaxel eluting stents (PES), Sirolimus eluting stents (SES)

Drug-Eluting Stents (DES), 2nd Generation: 6 months
examples: Everolimas eluting stents (EES), Zotarolimus eluting stents (ZES)

Why Delay Surgery? – Patients must remain on dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for the times listed above. While on DAPT, the patient runs a high risk of excessive bleeding perioperatively.

Which Drugs Are Used for Dual Antiplatelet Therapy? – Aspirin + Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP) receptor antagonists OR P2Y12 Inhibitors – Clopidogrel (Plavix), Prasugrel (Effient), Ticagrelor (Brillinta), Ticlopidine (Ticlid)

Emergency Surgery – Continue aspirin throughout the perioperative period