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Your doctor may recommend a stent to provide support inside an artery that has become narrowed by plaque buildup from atherosclerosis, or for lung airways that have narrowed due to other medical conditions. Your doctor will discuss the risks and benefits of the procedure with you. Sometimes, a stenting procedure is not recommended or another procedure is recommended instead. Learn more about the use of stents in the following conditions.

Having a stent placed is a minimally invasive procedure, meaning it is not a major surgery. Stents for coronary arteries and carotid arteries are placed in similar ways. A stent graft is placed to treat an aneurysm in a procedure called aortic aneurysm repair. Airway stents are placed in a procedure that helps open airways in the lung. For most stents, you will be given medicine to make you sleep during the procedure. The stent procedure may be planned ahead of time or it may be performed in an emergency situation.

You may have an increased risk for conduction disorders because of your age, family history and genetics, medical conditions, medicines, race or ethnicity, or sex. These factors can differ by the type of conduction disorder you have.

Your genes, or other causes such as medical conditions or medicines, can cause bleeding disorders. Sometimes a cause may not be known. Any problem that affects the function or number of clotting factors or platelets can lead to a bleeding disorder.

An aortic aneurysm may not cause any signs or symptoms until the aneurysm ruptures or dissects. The types of symptoms that occur before a rupture will depend on the location of the aneurysm and whether it has become large enough to affect other parts of your body. An aneurysm that ruptures or dissects is life-threatening.

You may have an increased risk of developing an aortic aneurysm because of your age, family history, genes, lifestyle habits, medical conditions, or sex.

Signs and symptoms of RDS usually happen at birth or within the first few hours that follow. Depending on the severity of a newborn's RDS, he or she may develop bronchopulmonary dysplasia or other medical problems, such as bleeding in the brain, kidney failure, or lung complications.

Damage to the lung’s air sacs—called alveoli—causes ARDS. Fluid from tiny blood vessels leaks through the damaged walls of the air sacs and collects, limiting the lungs’ normal exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The damage also causes inflammation that leads to the breakdown of surfactant—a liquid that helps keep your air sacs open.

Breathing involves two phases: breathing in and breathing out. Your lungs deliver oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from your blood in a process called gas exchange. Gas exchange happens in the capillaries surrounding the alveoli, where the oxygen that is breathed in enters the circulatory system and carbon dioxide in the blood is released to the lungs and then breathed out. If you have problems breathing, gas exchange may be impaired, increasing the risk of serious health problems.

Signs and symptoms of DIC depend on whether the condition is acute or chronic. Acute DIC is more severe and develops quickly over hours or days. Chronic DIC happens more slowly and sometimes has no signs or symptoms. Complications from DIC can occur from both the clotting that happens in the early stages of the condition and from bleeding in the later stages. Serious complications include organ damage and hemorrhage.