Heart bypass surgery is when a surgeon takes blood vessels from another part of your body to go around, or bypass, a blocked artery.
What Is Heart Bypass Surgery?
Heart bypass surgery is when a surgeon takes blood vessels from another part of your body to go around, or bypass, a blocked artery. The result is that more blood and oxygen can flow to your heart again.
It can help lower your risk for a heart attack and other problems. Once you recover, you’ll feel better and be able to get back to your regular activities.
Bypass surgery is also known as coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
You’ll still need a healthy diet, exercise, and probably medicine to prevent another blockage. But first, you’ll want to know what to expect from the surgery, how to prepare, what complications can happen, and what the recovery is like.
Why Do I Need Heart Bypass Surgery?
Bypass surgery treats symptoms of coronary artery disease. That happens when a waxy substance called plaque builds up inside the arteries in your heart and blocks blood and oxygen from reaching it.
What Are the Risks of Heart Bypass Surgery?
All surgeries come with the chance of problems.
Some include:
• Blood clots that can raise your chances of a stroke, a heart attack, or lung problems
• Fever
• Heart rhythm problems (arrhythmia)
• Kidney problems
• Infection and bleeding at the incision
• Memory loss and trouble thinking clearly
• Pain
• Reactions to anesthesia
• Stroke
• Pneumonia
• Problems breathing
Many things affect these risks, including your age, how many bypasses you get, and any other medical conditions you may have. You and your surgeon will discuss these before your operation.
Once you’ve recovered, your symptoms of angina will be gone or much better. You’ll be able to be more active, and you’ll have a lower risk of getting a heart attack.
What Are the Alternatives to Bypass Surgery?
There are a few less-invasive procedures your doctor could try instead of bypass surgery.
Angioplasty: A surgeon threads a deflated balloon attached to a special tube up to your coronary arteries. Once it’s there, they inflate the balloon to widen your blocked areas. Most times, it happens in combination with the installation of something called a stent, a wire mesh tube that props your artery open.
Minimally invasive heart surgery: A surgeon makes small incisions in your chest. Then, they attach veins from your leg or arteries from your chest to your heart, much like a traditional bypass surgery. In this case, though, your surgeon will put the instruments through the small incisions and use a video monitor as a guide to do the work. Unlike bypass surgery, your heart is still beating during this procedure.
