Boston Scientific study favors surgery over stents
September 3rd, 2008 joshua
The findings of a study funded by Boston Scientific reveal that surgery to clear clogged arteries is a more effective treatment than the use of propping stents.
The study followed about 1,800 patients faced with the prospect of either bypass surgery to unclog an artery, or to implant a stent to open it.
After one year, of those who received bypass surgery 12.1 percent died. Those who received a stent did not fair as well, experiencing a 17.8 percent mortality rate.
Bypass surgery also lessens the frequency of repeat surgeries, where as stents put patients under the knife at least twice as much.
According to the study results, only 5.9 percent of bypass patients required a follow-up corrective surgery within 10 years. That figure is dwarfed by the 13.7 percent of stent patients who needed another surgery in less than 10 years.












