Patients want more discussion of alternatives to stenting

Not enough of you are presenting your coronary stent patients with alternatives to the procedure, according to a new study.

The study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine surveyed fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries who had elective coronary artery stenting in the last half of 2008. Only 10% said they were presented with an alternative to surgery as a serious option. Most (77%) reported talking with their doctors "a lot" or "some" about the reasons for the surgery, but only 19% reported talking about the drawbacks, and only 16% said they were asked about their treatment preference.

By contrast, 64% of patients who underwent surgery for prostate cancer reported having at least one alternative to surgery presented to them as a serious option.