[Open surgical removal of a lost stent after percutan coronary intervention]

Coronary stent loss is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) if displacement and embolisation occur in a coronary artery or a cerebral vessel. In this case report a distally dislodged stent and the surgical removal of it is described. Removal of the stent was attempted after failed PCI, but the stent was lost at the puncture site of the left radial artery. The lost stent displaced itself more distally and gave rise to pain in the left hand. The patient was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon, who removed the lost stent successfully by an arterial cutdown.