Washington (SmartAboutHealth) - According to a new trial, stents are as good as surgery when it comes to their ability to unclog carotid arteries.

The trial was conducted for a period of 9 years and is known as the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy vs. Stenting Trial or CREST.

The CREST trial was carried out at various hospitals all across the U.S. to see just how effective stents were when compared to more traditional heart surgeries.

The CREST trial focused on a group of 2,502 patients who all either had a stent implanted into them, or a traditional heart surgery known as an endarterectomy.

They then examined just how well each method performed on a large scale among all patients.

What they found was that in terms of safety, there was no significant difference between the two.

Those who had received a stent though were more likely to have a stroke, but less likely to have a heart attack post procedure.

This is an interesting trial and has shown that in many cases, stents are as effective as surgery.

The results of the trial were announts at the 2010 International Stroke Conference in San Antonio.