CABG Surgery
Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is a procedure used to treat coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the narrowing of the coronary arteries – the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle. CAD is caused by a build-up of fatty material within the walls of the arteries. This build-up narrows the inside of the arteries, limiting the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.
Coronary bypass surgery generally takes between three and six hours and requires general anesthesia. The number of bypasses you need depends on where in your heart and how severe your blockages are.
Surgical techniques:
- Off-pump or beating-heart surgery. This procedure allows surgery to be done on the beating heart using special equipment to stabilize the area of the heart the surgeon is working on.
- Minimally invasive surgery. A surgeon performs coronary bypass through small incisions in the chest, often with the use of robotics and video imaging that help the surgeon operate in a small area.