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Bypass surgery, also called coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, is a surgical procedure performed to relieve angina and reduce the risk of death from coronary artery disease.
Arteries or veins are grafted from different parts of the patient's body to the coronary arteries in order to bypass the atherosclerotic narrowings and improve the blood supply to the coronary circulation supplying the heart muscle.
This surgery is usually performed with the heart stopped, necessitating the usage of cardiopulmonary bypass.
Bypass surgery is the most common major surgery in the USA, with over 500,000 surgeries performed anually.
New techniques for CABG:
- OCABG (off-pump CABG), is a technique to perform CABG on a beating heart.
- MICABG (minimally invasive CABG) is a technique where the incision is smaller, reducing some of the risks of this surgery.
Duration of procedure/surgery:2-6 hours, depending on the number of bypasses to be performed.
Days admitted:Usually 4-7 days (3-4 days in case of a minimally invasive CABG)
Anesthesia:General anesthesia
Recovery:You might be able to move around a few days after the surgery, according to your status and the doctor's advice.
Usually you will be able to get back to work within 12 weeks.
Risks:Between 2-5% of patients have some sort of complications.
As with any surgical procedure, there are risks of infection and heavy bleeding, as well as risks associated with general anesthesia.
Learn more about Heart Bypass