Bypass Surgery

If you can't go through, go around.

The Basics of Bypass Surgery

Your coronary arteries supply blood to your heart muscle. When they become blocked or narrowed due to atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease, Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery or bypass surgery is a surgical treatment used to restore blood flow to your heart. Also referred to as CABG (pronounced cabbage) this is done by using a section of a vein from the leg, or arteries from the chest to go around (bypass) the diseased section of a coronary artery. The healthy new vein or artery creates a new route for blood to flow to the heart muscle, giving it oxygen-rich blood.

During bypass surgery, your chest is opened (referred to as open-chest surgery). The heart is stopped, allowing surgeons to perform the bypass on the heart while you are placed on a heart-lung machine. This machine temporarily sustains life as it circulates the vital blood and oxygen to all parts of the body.

Surgeons may perform a single, double, triple or quadruple bypass depending on the number of blocked coronary arteries.

Recovery

After you recover from surgery in the intensive coronary care and intermediate units, you will learn about medication regimens, diet, wound care and activity instructions. As part of your ongoing recovery, we might recommend cardiac rehab programs through the YMCA Healthy Living Center – INTEGRIS Health.