Heart Bypass Surgery - Not Effective? Worthless?

Heart bypass surgery is not effective, worthless, say some. The same can be achieved in less invasive methods.

Heart bypass surgery has become a common procedure in developed countries. Heart bypass surgery diverts blood flow around blocked sections of the heart’s arteries. Heart bypass surgery uses a piece of healthy blood vessel taken from a leg, arm, chest, or abdomen. That blood vessel is connected to the heart’s other arteries forming a bypass around the blocked area. It is similar to a highway bypass that goes around congested city streets.

Still, heart bypass surgery is not effective, worthless, they say, because alternative treatment of heart artery disease is available.

Alternatives to Heart Bypass Surgery

In some patients, that alternative treatment may be prescription medications. In others, it may be a non-surgical treatment such as:

* Balloon angioplasty: In balloon angioplasty, a balloon catheter is inserted to unblock an artery. If the blocked artery supplies blood to the heart, this is called coronary angioplasty. It may be used in place of heart bypass surgery when blockage is in only one artery.

* Laser angioplasty: Laser angioplasty uses a laser beam at the tip of the catheter instead of a balloon. When the blockage is found, the laser emits pulses of light to vaporize the blockage.

* Stents: Another option is to have a stent inserted. Balloon angioplasty finds the blockage and is inflated to open the artery. Then a wire metal mesh tube, the stent, is opened out against the artery walls to hold it open, avoiding heart bypass surgery.

* Atherectomy: Heart atherectomy clears away the blockage in arteries carrying blood to the heart. A laser catheter, or a rotating shaver on the catheter’s end, vaporizes or shaves away the plaque. Afterwards, balloon angioplasty may also used. In some cases, a stent is then put in place.

With such options available, why would you agree to undergo the more serious heart bypass surgery?

Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG)

Heart bypass surgery is more commonly called Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery, or CABG. CABG is pronounced “cabbage” like the vegetable.

Researchers from the Journal of the American Heart Association say that CABG relieves chest pain better than stent-assisted angioplasty in the year after the procedure. It also is better at improving the quality of life during that first year. From the perspective of the researchers, if a patient wants to know which will make them feel better, the answer is heart bypass surgery.

Three studies in Great Britain showed that minimally invasive heart bypass surgery, on patients who have a single blocked coronary artery, produces longer life, and better quality of life, than a stent does.

Heart bypass surgery is not effective? Worthless? Not at all. According to the studies and the testimony of those who have had heart bypass surgery, it is both effective and worth the trouble.

CAUTION: This information is for educational purposes only. Your cardiologist (heart doctor) will help you decide whether heart bypass surgery is best for you. Please seek his or her advice.