Bypass Surgery – What It Is

Define bypass surgery. That’s what you will probably say if your doctor recommends the procedure. What is heart bypass surgery? You may have heard of it, in a general way, but how would you define it?

Define Bypass Surgery in Construction Terms

You can define bypass surgery by comparing it to a highway construction project. Suppose a landslide closes a 4-lane highway. The blockage is 90-100% complete. Traffic can no longer flow into a major city on that route. It still flows on other routes, but they are slowed by the additional burden. Resources have difficulty entering the city, and deliveries leaving the city are also delayed. Action must be taken.

A form of bypass surgery is recommended. A new road will be constructed – one that bypasses the blockage. Crews swing into action. They construct a short piece of highway beside the site of the old one. When it is ready, they connect it to the previous highway on each side of the blockage. Now traffic can flow freely again, bypassing the blockage.

In the same way, your arteries, designed to let blood flow freely along wide “expressways”, can develop blockages. Blood cannot flow through blocked arteries. It cannot reach the heart. Bypass surgery is recommended. A new piece of blood vessel must be placed beside the blocked one, and then attached at both ends to allow blood to flow through the new route.

Define Bypass Surgery in Detour Terms

To define bypass surgery in detour terms may seem easier. Like a detour, bypass surgery creates a new route around a problem area. A good detour speeds the flow of traffic. A detour, however, is usually temporary. Bypass surgery is permanent.

CABBAGE

The full name of bypass surgery is coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Doctors call it CABG, and pronounce it like “cabbage”. Bypass surgery can be performed on other parts of the body, in different ways, but we are using the term bypass surgery here to refer to CABG.

What Is Done in Bypass Surgery

In bypass surgery, a piece of healthy vein or artery is harvested (taken) from another part of your body. It is then used to create a bypass route around the blockage.

* Often, in coronary bypass surgery, it is a piece of long leg vein that is harvested. One end of the vein is sewn to the aorta, the large artery leading out of your heart. The other end is grafted (attached) to your coronary artery below the area that is blocked.

* Another option your surgeon has in coronary bypass surgery is to detach a mammary artery from the chest wall and sew the open end of it to your coronary artery below the blocked area.

Whichever option your cardiologist chooses, it will give you a new route around the blockage. If more than one artery is blocked, multiply pieces of healthy vein or artery will be harvested, and multiply bypass surgery grafts done.

You will spend a few hours in intensive care after surgery while you are stabilized. Then you will be taken to a cardiac ward for recovery. You will be surprised at how quickly the nurses get cardiac patients walking, but this is vital in helping a patient avoid the risk of pneumonia or other complications.