Angioplasty is one of the most common treatments for heart attacks. Angioplasty is not generally recommended for blockages below 70%. These blockages require only medications and lifestyle changes to be treated successfully. It is non-surgical procedure, which opens blocked coronary arteries and restores blood flow to the heart.

Depending on the size of the blockage, the type of angioplasty, and the patient’s medical condition, the duration of the procedure may vary from 30 mins to 3 hours. Local anesthesia is used for the angioplasty; however, some cases require general anesthesia which will require hospital stay. There are different forms of angioplasty.  The type of angioplasty the cardiologist chooses to perform varies according to the following factors:

• the location of the block/plaque in the heart
• the shape of the block (plaque)
• whether the plaque responsible for the clogging of the artery is hard or so