Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery for Treating Coronary Heart Disease

To understand the causes, symptoms and treatments of coronary artery surgery, it is first essential to know what is coronary artery bypass surgery. Also referred to as coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), bypass surgery of heart or heart bypass surgery is primarily done to get relief from coronary artery disease and angina. The cardiac bypass surgery not only eliminates the symptoms of coronary artery disease but also allows the patients to resume their routine lifestyles. It drastically reduces the risk of heart attacks. 

The building up of plaque in the artery wall is known as Atherosclerosis. This condition is also regarded as one of the primary reasons for coronary bypass surgery. The arteries passages become narrow and hard, thereby reducing flexibility. The reasons for plaque accumulation are high cholesterol levels, unhealthy lifestyle and high blood pressure. The arteries become so narrow that the blood flow supply to the heart is drastically reduced, as a result of which the heart muscle has very little amount of oxygen left, further leading to tissue damage.

The surgical procedure is performed by restoring the flow of the blood to the heart muscle so as to divert the blood flow around a blocked artery section in the heart. The procedure makes use of a healthy blood vessel that is taken from arm, abdomen or chest and legs. This healthy blood vessel is then connected to the heart’s other arteries in order to bypass the blood around the blocked area. This surgery is yet another option to improve the flow of blood into the heart. Heart disease is treated by the means of this surgery. 

To identify the candidates for this surgery, diagnostic tests are done to know the type, location and degree of coronary artery disease. The surgeon determines the best treatment by evaluating the tests, age, the structure of the heart, lifestyle, other medical conditions and the severity of the disease symptoms. The surgeon makes use of several heart bypass grafts in order to decide the suitable graft on the basis of the blockage location, size of the coronary arteries and the amount of blockage. The different types of grafts used are radial artery, internal mammary arteries, inferior epigastric artery, gastroepiploic artery and saphenous veins. Many coronary arteries are bypassed during the procedure namely quintuple bypass surgery, quadruple bypass surgery, single bypass surgery, double bypass surgery and triple bypass surgery. It basically refers to the number of coronary arteries bypassed during the procedure. 

The heart bypass surgery recovery involves the reduction of risk factors of heart disease that also includes certain strategies to help the patients to stop smoking, exercising regularly, reducing stress, controlling high blood pressure and improving the cholesterol levels. Some medications are also required for a complete patient’s recovery. These medications are meant to be taken every day that helps in preventing the chest pain and the medication drugs also improves the survival rate. Some of the medications prescribed are beta blockers, ACE inhibitor, nitrates and antiplatelet therapy.

The surgical procedure of minimally invasive coronary artery bypass is performed for those patients who needs left internal mammary artery bypass graft leading to left anterior descending artery. Keyhole approaches (video-assisted or thoracoscopic surgery and port access), robotic coronary artery bypass surgery and endoscopic approaches are the three minimally invasive procedures. The robotic assisted CABG (coronary artery bypass graft surgery) involves small incisions that results in less blood loss, pain and no rib spreading. The recovery is also faster in the case of robotic assisted CABG.