Coronary artery bypass surgery is major surgery that's done in a hospital. Doctors trained in heart surgery, called cardiovascular surgeons, do the surgery. Heart doctors, called cardiologists, and a team of other providers help care for you.
Before you go into the operating room, a health care provider inserts an IV into your forearm or hand and gives you medicine called a sedative to help you relax.
When you are in the operating room, you can expect these things:
Anesthetics: You receive a combination of medicines through the IV and a face mask. These medicines put you in a pain-free, sleep-like state. This is called general anesthesia.
Breathing machine: A care provider inserts a breathing tube into your mouth. This tube attaches to a breathing machine called a ventilator. The machine breathes for you during and immediately after the surgery.
Heart-lung machine: During surgery, a heart-lung machine keeps blood and oxygen flowing through your body. This is called on-pump coronary bypass.
An average coronary artery bypass procedure lasts between three and six hours. The number of clogged arteries determines how long the procedure takes.
A lengthy cut along the breastbone is normally made by a surgeon down the middle of the chest. To expose the heart, the surgeon spreads wide the rib cage. The heart is briefly halted by medication once the chest is opened. On is the heart-lung machine.
The surgeon cuts off a portion of a healthy blood artery, frequently from the lower thigh or the chest wall. Graft is the name given to this section of healthy tissue. Below the obstructed cardiac artery, the surgeon sutures the graft's ends together. By doing this, blood is given a new route to get through a barrier. During coronary artery bypass surgery, more than one transplant may be utilised.
The following are some variants on coronary artery bypass surgery:
Beating-heart surgery or off-pump surgery: In some cases, coronary artery bypass surgery is performed without the assistance of a heart-lung machine. Instead, the beating heart is the site of the procedure. The particular region of the heart being operated on is stabilised using specialised equipment. As the remainder of the heart is still beating, this kind of operation might be difficult. Not everyone can choose to do it.
Operation that is not too intrusive. Small incisions are made in the chest by a cardiac surgeon during the procedure. The use of robotics and visual imaging aids the surgeon in working in confined spaces. Port-access or keyhole surgery are two terms used to describe minimally invasive cardiac surgery.
Following the procedure, the medical staff restarts your heartbeat in the operating room and turns off the heart-lung machine. The chest bone is closed by the surgeon using wire. After the bone heals, the wire remains within your body.