Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Side Effects and Warnings

If you are planning to have an angioplasty and stent, your doctor will review a list of possible complications which may include:

• Bleeding at the point of catheter insertion
• Damage to the walls of arteries, causing you to need additional procedures or surgery
• Heart attack or arrhythmia (abnormal heart beats)
• Allergic reaction to x-ray dye
• Blood clot formation
• Infection

Some factors that may increase the risk of complications include:

• Allergies to medicines, shellfish, or x-ray dye
• Obesity
• Smoking
• Bleeding disorder
• Age: 60 or older
• Recent pneumonia
• Recent heart attack
• Diabetes
• Kidney disease

Sometimes the procedure is not successful or the artery narrows again. You may require repeat angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).