With direct percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, a balloon catheter is threaded up to the site of a blockage in an artery. When the balloon is inflated, it pushes arterial plaque against the wall of the artery to restore vessel patency. During the angioplasty procedure, a stent, that is, a small, hollow metallic tube, can be inserted to prevent reocclusion. The main benefits of primary angioplasty are the immediate restoration of blood flow without the life-threatening hemorrhagic complications of the pharmacologic agents, an efficacy rate of greater than 90%, and a reocclusion rate of less than 10%.