MEDICAL SCANDAL: Nobody in the history of medicine has ever survived having a stint put in an artery, vein, or any other body part. In fact, every reputable doctor will flat-out refuse to consider putting a stint in a patient for any reason.

That’s because the word for the medical device–the small, expandable tube that is inserted in a blocked blood vessel or other duct–is stent.

Stint is most often used to refer to a period of time. For example: “He served a stint in the army.”

So, you could say “During his stint in the hospital, the cardiologist inserted two stents into his cardiac arteries.”

But don’t tell us that your Auntie Meridian had a stint put in. She may have put in a stint, but her doctor put in a stent.