When is Bypass Surgery necessary?
Bypass surgery may be needed for various reasons, such as an angioplasty that did not sufficiently widen the blood vessel, or blockages that cannot be reached by, or are too long or hard for, angioplasty. In certain cases, bypass surgery may be preferred. For instance, it may be used for persons who have both coronary heart disease and diabetes. A bypass also can close again. This happens in more than 10 percent of bypass surgeries, usually after 10 or more years.
A build-up of plaque in the arteries can block blood flow to the heart. This can cause debilitating chest pain or a heart attack. Why bypass surgery instead of a stent? A stent procedure, which involves leaving a wire mesh tube in the artery to keep it open, can be difficult when the obstruction is inaccessible with a catheter, or if it occurs in a primary source of blood flow to the heart, because while the balloon is inflated to place the stent, blood flow to the heart stops. Surgical walkthrough Heres what happens during the bypass operation: • An incision is made in the sternum or breastbone. • The heart is connected to the bypass machine by clamping the aorta and rerouting blood flow to the machine. • The heart is stopped. A cold drug solution is pumped into the coronary arteries to preserve heart tissue. • A conduit blood vessel, usually the internal thoracic artery, is selected and connected to the artery beyond the obstruction, as well as to the aorta (the hearts main artery),
