In carotid angioplasty and stenting, a long hollow tube called a catheter is inserted in the femoral artery in the groin area. The catheter is then maneuvered through the arteries until it reaches the narrowing in the carotid artery in the neck. An umbrella-shaped filter is inserted beyond the narrowing to catch any plaque or debris that may break off during the procedure. Then, a tiny balloon at the end of the catheter is inflated to push the plaque to the side and widen the vessel. A small metal coil called a stent is inserted into the vessel. The stent serves as a scaffold to help prevent the artery from narrowing again.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

July 14, 2018