A clot from a blockage or plaque build up in the carotid artery can travel to the brain and cause a stroke. The blockage can be treated with a surgery called carotid endarterectomy, or by placing a wire mesh tube, called a stent, in the artery to keep it open.

Although the stent is a less invasive procedure, a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that carotid endarterectomy surgery was twice as effective in preventing strokes.

The trial included 527 people and found that while 9 percent of patients who received stents had a stroke within 30 days, only 3.9% of patients who had surgery had one. After six months, 11.7 percent of those who had stents had a stroke or died, while 6.1 percent of those who had a carotid endarterectomy had a stroke or died.

The lead author of the study stressed that this study did not include patients with chronic diseases, such as severe heart disease, which would place them at a higher risk for complications from the surgery.

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