Understanding balloon angioplasty

An angioplasty (angio = blood vessel; plasty = repair) is the common term given to a whole range of percutaneous (done via a puncture through the skin) treatment of coronary artery disease. Balloon angioplasty then is repair of heart arteries, using the balloon and other devices, done via a puncture through the skin, into an artery, under local anaesthetic.  

The proper medical name is actually PERCUTANEOUS (puncture through the skin) CORONARY (of the heart) INTERVENTIONS, or PCI for short. This term includes plain old balloon angioplasty – POBA (treatment using only the balloon) and angioplasty with coronary devices, for example, stents, cutting balloons, atherectomies (cutting away atheroma plaques) and others.