How is it done?
A team of surgeons performs coronary artery bypass surgery. The operation takes 3 to 6 hours, depending on how many blood vessels need to be bypassed. One cut (incision) is made in the center of the chest at the breastbone to allow the surgeon to see the heart and for detaching an artery in the chest, called the internal mammary artery, for doing the bypass surgery. Another incision may be made in your leg to remove a vein that will be put in your chest. If required the patient is then connected to a heart-lung machine that supplies oxygen to blood and circulates it back into body while the surgery is performed. At EHIRC, majority of operations are done without the heart lung machine.

If a vein is used for the bypass, one end of it is sewn into the aorta (the main artery from the heart to the body). The other end is sewn into the area below the blockage in the coronary artery. If the mammary artery is used, the lower end of the mammary artery is cut and reattached to the coronary artery beyond the blockage. In either case, the blood then uses the new vessel as a detour to bypass the blockage.

When the surgery is finished, heart-lung machine is disconnected, breastbone is closed with wire, and skin is closed with stitches.

If the blocked coronary arteries are on the front side of the heart, it may be possible for the surgeon to do the bypass through a small incision in the upper chest. This approach does not require cutting the breastbone and makes recovery much easier, but it is not appropriate for most people. (MIDCAB or lateral thoracotomy).