# Cardiac stent or bypass? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218 "2021-01-22T16:08:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/21 "2021-01-23T14:13:51Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@pullin](#): > > > > In my case I was on blood thinners for 18 months following the procedure. Warning: this medicine is frightfully expensive, almost $300/month. > > Do you recall what drug you were on? I was on Plavix and aspirin for a year, but IIRC Plavix was cheap, in line with my antihypertensives. It may have been Brilinta (ticagrelor), which I was on for about 18 months after my stents. It is indeed quite expensive (more so in the US than anywhere else) because it’s still under patent and not available as a generic. Technically it’s an antiplatelet agent, but it serves the same general purpose of preventing blood clots as aspirin, through a different mechanism (the two are usually used together). Plavix is similar. Brilinta is more potent than Plavix, but of shorter duration, and is normally taken twice a day. I was switched from Brilinta to Plavix after about 18 months out of concern for potential side effects. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/22 "2021-01-23T14:40:16Z")
Yeah, my stents were for 90% blockages - there were other blockages between 50-60% but they said they don’t generally stent those. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/23 "2021-01-23T17:54:07Z")
Had dizzy spells and regular Dr says get your heart checked by cardiologist since you are diabetic. Cardiologist gave me stress test ,echo test, gamma test , carotid ultrasound and now CT scan. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/24 "2021-01-23T22:19:56Z")
I should add to my previous post, just as a point of reference, that in my case I had specifically asked about going home with just a regimen of medication to deal with my condition. With all the drugs they’d given me, I was feeling fine, and my blood pressure was down to normal. The answer was no, they would not approve a medical discharge without some form of surgical intervention. My only options were to walk out in defiance of all medical advice, or hope that they’d find that stenting was a viable alternative to bypass surgery. Fortunately, that’s what happened. I got three stents in total, a nice little plastic card naming and describing the stents and their locations for future doctors, and have been just fine in the years since. I have never since that time had the terrible heavy chest pressure that I experienced that first sent me to the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2021, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/25 "2021-01-23T23:46:10Z")
In some cases if you leave a hospital against advice of doctors your insurance may not pay the bill. Hopefully they tell people that but I think they probably don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/26 "2021-01-24T01:23:01Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I told him I would not consent to bypass surgery, Can you explain why? I’ve never had either stent or bypass, but I am curious about your reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/27 "2021-01-24T01:46:37Z")
Don’t want bypass but will do it if that is best option. And I am getting a 2nd opinion. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/28 "2021-01-24T02:29:31Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > I told him I would not consent to bypass surgery, > > Can you explain why? I’ve never had either stent or bypass, but I am curious about your reasons.- I felt that at my age I didn’t want to experience the periopetative and postoperative discomfort associated with the procedure. Would rather bow at gracefully, as it were. But all ended (and continues) well! ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/29 "2021-01-24T11:16:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@pullin](#): > > > > In my case I was on blood thinners for 18 months following the procedure. Warning: this medicine is frightfully expensive, almost $300/month. > > Do you recall what drug you were on? I was on Plavix and aspirin for a year, but IIRC Plavix was cheap, in line with my antihypertensives. As others have guessed, it was Brilinta. IIRC it was about $375 for a months supply (I guessed low in my earlier post). I eventually found some coupons and programs to reduce the cost, and in 2020 surpassed my max out-of-pocket insurance coverage and got them “free” for most of the year. This year we were facing paying the full retail cost, so were pleased when the docs said to stop the prescription. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/30 "2021-01-24T18:22:35Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > > > I told him I would not consent to bypass surgery, > > > > Can you explain why? I’ve never had either stent or bypass, but I am curious about your reasons.- > > I felt that at my age I didn’t want to experience the periopetative and postoperative discomfort associated with the procedure. Would rather bow at gracefully, as it were. But all ended (and continues) well! Simply stated, coronary artery bypass grafting is _ **major** _ surgery, a type of open-heart surgery. In many or most cases, but not all, AIUI, the heart is actually stopped and replaced by an external machine while the surgery is performed, and then restarted again. And the recovery time is significant. A cardiologist I was seeing for a while after my stents asked me why I had refused bypass surgery. I was rather astounded and was tempted to ask, “are you really a doctor? Do you need me to explain this to you?” Bypass surgery is great lifesaving stuff, but only when absolutely necessary. As medical technology advances, there are more and more cases where modern drug-eluting stents are equally efficacious. I’m now seeing a different cardiologist – the wonderful one who orginally looked after me in the hospital. . ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/31 "2021-01-24T18:47:49Z")
my ex wife’s stepmother had hiatal hernia surgery when she was almost 90. Surgeon told her she might not survive the surgery and she went ahead. And he was right because she died during the operation. I also knew a guy who died during surgery on his leg, had a heart attack. In his case he was around 40 but very overweight. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/32 "2021-01-25T14:26:39Z")
Big study says bypass and stents are no better than medicine for many people with heart issues > **[Stents, bypass surgery show no benefit in heart disease mortality rates among...](https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/11/invasive-heart-treatments-not-always-needed.html)** > > A large, international study led by Stanford and New York University found that invasive procedures are no better than medications and lifestyle advice at treating heart disease that's severe but stable. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/33 "2021-01-26T09:38:45Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Big study says bypass and stents are no better than medicine for many people with heart issues That was studying if _even more people_ should have stents, not if stents and bypass could be avoided. Because they already knew that it was unethical to suggest medication for someone who needs a stent or bypass. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/34 "2021-01-26T15:27:07Z")
getting angiogram next week and possibly stents ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218/35 "2021-02-04T21:31:15Z")
got angiogram and 1 stent today [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cardiac-stent-or-bypass/931218.md?page=1)