Use of Antiplatelet Therapy after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Bare-Metal Stents and Different Types of Drug-Eluting Stents

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with a thienopyridine and aspirin has been the standard of care post coronary stent implantation. DAPT has been shown to reduce the risk of stent thrombosis (ST) and complications of myocardial infarction and death after placement of a drug-eluting stent (DES) and bare-metal stent (BMS).This article reviews the available clinical efficacy and safety data of antiplatelet therapies. The aim of this review is to highlight not only the importance of antiplatelets in the prevention of early and late thrombosis but also emphasize the importance of newer more potent antiplatelet agents and their role in the setting of clopidogrel resistance. MEDLINE, and EMBASE were searched for studies related to the clinical efficacy and safety of antiplatelet therapy after DES and BMS placement using the terms dual antiplatelet therapy, thienopyridine, aspirin, clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor,elinogrel, bare-metal stents, drug-eluting stent, stent thrombosis and myocardial infarction.