What is Heart Bypass Surgery?
Bypass surgery treats severe coronary artery disease. In this condition, fatty plaque builds up in your heart’s blood vessels and keeps your heart from getting all the oxygen it needs. People with this illness sometimes feel chest pain, but they may experience no symptoms until they have a heart attack.
To help prevent a serious heart injury, your surgeon will take healthy blood vessels from your legs or another part of your body. Then, the surgeon connects them to your heart to create a new route for blood to flow around your blocked arteries.
Open-Heart Surgery
CABG is open-heart surgery. To access your heart, your surgeon “opens” your chest by making a long incision and dividing your sternum (breastbone). Your heart will be stopped, and you’ll be connected to a heart-lung bypass machine that pumps blood, adds oxygen to it, and keeps it flowing throughout your body. This approach leads to better long-term outcomes than “off-pump” surgery that doesn’t use a heart-lung machine.
Safe, High-Quality Care
Heart bypass is the most common heart surgery performed at AnMed. Count on your surgical team to explain the benefits and risks of treatment and follow strict measures to keep you safe. Rest assured, we give you the same level of care we’d provide for a friend or family member. You’re our neighbor, and we want you to stay healthy and well.
Learn more about what to expect from heart surgery at AnMed.
Recovery After CABG
You’ll stay in the hospital for five days so your care team can make sure you’re OK. Before you go home, we’ll schedule a follow-up appointment so your surgeon can check your incision and answer your questions. Within a few weeks, you’ll start cardiac rehabilitation to restore your heart’s strength and increase your energy, so you can enjoy a more active life.
