When you’re facing heart stent surgery or heart stent operation, the last thing you want to think about is how much it will cost you. However, the price of heart stent surgery can really add up, and it’s important to know ahead of time how much each phase of your treatment will cost you. Most stent surgeries are done between 2 lakhs to 4 lakhs rupees in many hospitals in Hyderabad, India. The recovery phase can run from 5,000 to 10,000 rupees depending on how many visits to the doctor are required.
Other names for heart stent surgery are
- Heart stent operation
- PTCA or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty
- PCI or Percutaneous coronary intervention
Stents are medical devices that expand and strengthen the heart’s blood vessels. While stents save many lives, they can also be costly, especially if you don’t have health insurance coverage to help you pay the bills. Therefore, it’s crucial to know what you’re getting into before undergoing this surgery and how much it will cost. What you might not know, however, is that the cost of stent surgery can range significantly depending on which hospital you choose to have it done in and what their individual pricing model looks like. This article explains what heart stent surgery is, how much it costs, how you can find financial assistance if needed, and other vital facts to consider before scheduling this procedure.
What is a stent in heart stent surgery or PTCA?
A stent is an expandable metal scaffold that is inserted into your heart to hold open blood vessels that are too narrow. A heart stent surgery will reduce the chances of future heart attacks and other complications that come from having blocked arteries. There are two basic types of stents: bare-metal and drug-eluting stents.
Bare-metal stents have structural integrity, which means they don’t rely on medications for support but instead dissolve into your body over time. Drug-eluting stents are coated with medication, which keeps them from clogging over time and helps prevent further blockages.
How much does heart stent surgery in Hyderabad cost?
The typical out-of-pocket cost for stent surgery is between 15,0000 and 400,000. But if you have insurance, your portion will probably be less than that. Stent surgery costs sometimes can go up to 10 to 15 lakhs.
Why are there different prices?
No two stent surgeries are the same. Time taken for a stent surgery, materials used for stent surgery, and expertise needed for a stent surgery vary depending on the anatomy of blockages in the heart.
Blockages or lesions in the heart are classified, in general, as
- Simple Blockages or lesions
- Intermediate Blockages or lesions
- Complex Blockages or lesions
Simple lesion: Takes less time, requires fewer gadgets, needs less expertise, needs less staff, and requires a minimal hospital stay.
Complex lesion: Quite the opposite. Hence more expensive
Intermediate Blockages fall in between the two
There are a few significant costs associated with heart stents: first, how much will your hospital stay cost (they’re typically administered in-hospital), and second, what are the materials used for stent surgery on the heart? The former tends to depend on where you got admitted.
If you got admitted to a semi-private hospital, hospital stay cost is comparably less when compared to a corporate hospital. Suppose you got admitted to intensive care with an emergency; hospital stay cost is invariably high compared to admission to a general ward. The more you are sick, the longer you will stay in the hospital. Therefore, more is the hospital stay cost.
A typical simple stent surgery needs one day of ICU stay and one to two days of ward stay. This stay may be extended if got any complications during the stent surgery. This stay may be extended if your medical condition is not stable. The more complications, the higher the hospital stay cost.
What are the materials used for stent surgery on the heart that determines its cost?
Every heart stent surgery requires a minimum of the following things to perform ( apart from gloves, injections, syringes, etc.)
- One or two nurses
- A technician
- A cardiologist
- Contrast or dye
- A sheath
- A guide catheter
- One wire
- One or two balloon
- One stent
Contrast agents
The dyes are injected to make heart vessels visible on the x-rays. A simple lesion needs 50 to 100 ml of contrast. Complex lesions take more than 300 ml contrast,
Commonly used contrast agents are
- Omnipaque
- Visipaque–expensive than mnipau
A sheath
A short, hollow tube that is inserted into a blood vessel in the leg or arm. It is the tunnels between the outside to vessel in the hand or leg.
Guide catheter
A long, narrow tube called a catheter is placed through a plastic introducer sheath which is directed through the blood channel to the coronary arteries. This is the tunnel from the outside to the coronary arteries.
Coronary balloon
Coronary balloons are long, thin tubes with a tiny balloon at the tip. When a cardiologist inflates the balloon at the arterial blockage site, the balloon compresses or flattens the plaque against the artery wall, opening the blockages. It creates a passage for the stents.
Coronary guidewires are specialized pieces of equipment used to deliver balloons, stents, IVUS, OCT, rotablation, etc. The wire is the essential thing on which the rest of the gadgets move.
Few patients may need some or more of the following over and above the previously mentioned list
- Multiple guide catheter
- Two or three cardiologists
- Multiple wires
- Multiple ballons
- Multiple stents
- A special type of wires (obviously costly)
- special type ballons (obviously expensive)
- Rotatblation
- IVUS
- OCT
- FFR or iFR
- Special injections or drugs
- Supporting devices like Impella, ECMO, IABP
So, depending on the material used, the cost of stent surgery can go even up to 7 to 20 lakhs.
Fortunately, most patients fall into the intermediate or straightforward category. Therefore, the typical cost for a stent surgery in India is two lakhs to 4 lakhs in the majority of the hospitals.
Rotatblation
Rotational atherectomy is a procedure that involves the use of a tiny revolving cutting blade to unblock a blocked artery and restore blood flow to the heart. If the plaque is soft enough, it can be easily dissolved with the help of a thin tube with a little balloon attached to the end. But when the plaque is too hard to be pushed aside by a balloon, Rotablation is needed.
Rotablation, also known as rotational atherectomy, is used when an angioplasty fails to remove the plaque. The cost of root ablation is roughly around 60000 to 1. 2 lakhs.
IVUS or OCT
Angiography gives a general look at the coronary arteries. However, it can’t show the walls of the arteries. IVUS or OCT are special imaging techniques that provide images of the artery walls and reveal the exact length and severity of blockages. They give the accurate severity of the blockages.
They also tell your doctor whether the stent procedure they have done is perfect. They cost around Rs 50000 to One lakh.
FFR or iFR
Angiography gives a general look at the coronary arteries. It is subjective and provides a rough estimate of the severity of the blockage.
FFR or iFR is an advanced technique to determine the stenosis or blockage severity accurately. They are also helpful in assessing whether the stent surgery has been done perfectly. This costs around Rs 50000 to One lakh.
Special type ballons
Special ballons are OPN ballons or cutting balloons. They have certain advantages in complex cases, But, They are expensive.
A special type of wires
The wire is essential during a stent surgery over which a balloon or stent is sent or threaded; sometimes, routine wires may not cross difficult blockages. In such a case, special wires are needed. They are several special wires with unique characters to deal with a particular case. They are comparably expensive.
If you have any questions about how much these fees are in your area or specific health plan, be sure to ask your doctor.
Type of stents
We have
- Bare metal stents (BMS)- Cheap
- Drug-eluting stents or medicated stents (DES)
- bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS)-expensive
Similarly
we have
- Locally made stents- less costly
- Imported stents
We have
- Branded stents – expensive
- Generic stents
After stent capping, all of the above stents are available almost at a similar price. Hence they do not influence the stent surgery cost much.
Support devices
Some critical cases or sick patients need a supporting machine to tolerate the surgery. They sustain the blood pressure and provide support to the heart. They are used when the patient’s heart is weak or has poor pumping capacity ( low ejection fraction). They include
- IABP
- Impella
- ECMO
Impella or ECMO are pretty expensive, and their cost may go more than seven lakhs.
Now you can understand that it is the severity of the blockages, hardness of the jams or blockages, general condition of the patient, and healthiness of heart function.
What can I do to reduce the cost of the stent surgery?
- Take good medical insurance.
- Do not delay seeking medical care. Regular heart health checks up starting from the age of 40 can identify the heart disease in its early stages. We can then manage them with medicines alone with stent surgery.
- If you get a heart attack, rush to a nearby hospital immediately. The earlier you go, the lesser the complications. So lesser will be the hospital stay.
Which payment method should I choose?
There are several different ways to pay for your heart stent surgery, depending on what you and your doctor decide. Many hospitals offer patients four options for payment.
Following people or bodies can pay the hospital bill partially of fully
- Insurance- private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid
- Cash/self-pay.
- Government
- Your company
Do I have other alternatives aside from stents?
If you’re suffering from chest pain and have already been diagnosed with blocked arteries, your doctor will often recommend stents to increase blood flow. However, there are other alternatives to stents, such as medication or surgery. It’s important to talk with your doctor about all available treatment options so you can weigh out your costs and benefits before proceeding with any medical treatments. Talk to your doctor today!
Sometimes, open-heart surgery may cost less than bypass surgery.
Does follow-up after heart stent surgery cost?
A patient who underwent stent surgery has to visit a cardiologist rest of his life. He needs to consume blood thinners, cholesterol-lowering drugs, and other heart medicines for life-long. They also need a periodic heart checkup with ECG,2d echo test, tmt test, and blood test. All of these can add up to the total expenditure.
Follow-up cost
- Cardiologist consultations
- Medicines: Branded vs. Generic
- Heart tests
- Blood tests
- Transportation charges
Insurance companies may pay follow-up charges for up to one month to 2 months.
Other things that can influence the cost of cardiac stent surgery or PTCA in India
The cost of a heart stent surgery or PTCA or PCI may further rise above the package if you have
- Serious medical complications
- Kidney disease
- Underwent CABG or open-heart surgery previously
- Need extended ICU support
- Need oxygen support
- Need ventilator support
- Need longer stay in the hospital
- Have diseases like HIV, Hepatitis B (HbsAg), or hepatitis C
Where to Get PTCA Done in Hyderabad
Your doctor determines whether or not you need stent surgery on the heart. He may himself suggest you some hospitals. Cardiologists will advise their patients to get the CAG test in their affiliated hospital.
Dr. Malleswara Rao is a senior interventional cardiologist in Hyderabad. He works in Premier hospital. He is an expert in stent surgery and does it starting from Rs 150000. His hospital has significant insurance, aarogyasri, EHS, ESI, ECHS RTC, and another major empanelment. Arogya Bharatha, Singareni collieries cards, and TSSPDCL Cards are also accepted.
What is the cost of heart stent surgery or PTCA in Government hospitals?
Heart stent operation is absolutely free in Govt Hospitals like Gandhi hospitals and Osmania hospitals in Hyderabad.
Pingback: PTCA vs CABG - CARDIOLOGIST HYDERABAD