The spouse of a client who had an angioplasty following a heart attack says to the nurse, “What is an angioplasty? It sounds like plastic surgery. My husband had a heart attack.” What information should be included in the nurse’s response?
ExplanationAn angioplasty is the insertion of a balloon-tipped catheter into a coronary artery. The balloon is infl ated, opening up the artery
and increasing blood fl ow through the coronary artery to the heart muscle. Angioplasty does not repair heart damage. A left heart
cardiac catheterization is the diagnostic procedure that precedes angioplasty. Answer 2 describes a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure.
