What is a rotablation angioplasty?
Rotablation angioplasty is a safe and extensively used technique which features insertion of a small drill for the treatment of coronary artery disease.
With rotablation, a special catheter, with an acorn-shaped, diamond-coated tip, is guided to the point of the narrowing in your coronary artery. The tip spins at a high speed and grinds away the plaque on your artery walls. The microscopic particles are washed away in your bloodstream.
When is rotablation angioplasty treatment recommended?
Generally coronary heart disease in patients with angina pectoris, is recommended with rotablation angioplasty.
The plaque that builds up in the arteries, leads to partial or complete chocking of the artery, resulting either into a heart attack, stroke or obstructions in the blood vessels of the legs causing pain. If the plaque is soft enough it can be easily dissolved and treated by conventional angioplasty. But when the plaque is to hard to be pushed aside, rotablation angioplasty or rotational atherectomy comes into play.
How long is the recovery after a rotablation angioplasty?
Patients can walk about six hours after a rotablation angioplasty procedure. Most patients spend the night in the hospital, return home after about two days, and go back to work after a week.
Patients are advised to avoid heavy exercise for a month. They have to take blood-thinning medication for the rest of their lives.