HEART BYPASS SURGERY
If you have coronary artery disease (CAD), the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart muscle become hardened and narrowed. If lifestyle changes and medicines don't help, your doctor may recommend coronary artery bypass surgery. CABG is the most common type of open-heart surgery in the United States, with more than 500,000 surgeries performed each year. Doctors called cardiothoracic (KAR-de-o-tho-RAS-ik) surgeons perform this surgery. CABG isn’t used for everyone with CAD. Many people with CAD can be treated by other means, such as lifestyle changes, medicines, and another revascularization procedure called angioplasty.
The surgery uses a piece of a vein from the leg or artery from the chest or wrist. The surgeon attaches this to the coronary artery above and below the narrowed area or blockage. This allows blood to bypass the blockage. A bypass also can close again. This happens in more than 10 percent of bypass surgeries, usually after 10 or more years. Some people need more than one bypass.
(Sources: Medline Plus/ National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
