What Is a Stent and What Does It Do?

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders had stents put in while on the campaign trail.

Dr. Mehmet Oz has some important medical advice for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders

Sanders underwent emergency heart surgery Tuesday evening after suffering chest pains. He has canceled all upcoming events until further notice after the 78-year-old had two stents inserted. 

Inside Edition spoke to Oz about the procedure.

"A stent is a mesh, it looks like metal, and it pushes open the plaque that's otherwise compromising the inside of a blood vessel," Oz said. "... Imagine a snowplow pushing away snow and opening up the main road again. That's what a stent does."

Oz added that stents are a remarkably "ubiquitous" invention. 

The doctor also praised Sanders for immediately taking action when he noticed the chest pains. 

"It means that the heart muscle is being starved of blood. ... The muscle begins to get angry. Eventually it will die if it's actually completely deprived of blood."

He continued: "That's the big message from Sen. Sanders: He did something about the chest discomfort."

Check out the video above to learn more. 

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