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By Mayo Clinic staffYou and your doctor can consider whether coronary bypass surgery or another artery-opening procedure, such as angioplasty or stenting, is right for you.
Coronary bypass surgery is an option if:
- You have severe chest pain caused by narrowing of several of the arteries that supply your heart muscle, leaving the muscle short of blood during even light exercise or at rest. Sometimes angioplasty and stenting will help, but for some types of blockages, coronary bypass surgery may be the best option.
- You have more than one diseased coronary artery and the heart's main pumping chamber — the left ventricle — isn't functioning well.
- Your left main coronary artery is severely narrowed or blocked. This artery supplies most of the blood to the left ventricle.
- You have an artery blockage for which angioplasty isn't appropriate, you've had a previous angioplasty or stent placement that hasn't been successful, or you've had stent placement, but the artery has narrowed again (restenosis).
Coronary bypass surgery may also be performed in emergency situations, such as a heart attack, if your doctor sees that you're not responding to other treatments.
Coronary bypass surgery doesn't cure the underlying heart disease that caused blockages in the first place. This disease is referred to as atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease. Even if you have coronary bypass surgery, lifestyle changes are still a necessary part of treatment after surgery. Medications are routine after coronary bypass surgery to lower your blood cholesterol, reduce the risk of developing a blood clot and help your heart function as well as possible.
- Hillis LD, et al. ACC/AHA 2011 guideline update for coronary artery bypass graft surgery: Executive summary - A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2011;124:2610.
- Coronary artery bypass grafting. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/cabg/. Accessed Aug. 22, 2012.
- Shapira OM, et al. Coronary artery bypass graft surgery after acute ST elevation myocardial infraction. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Aug. 22, 2012.
- Aranki S, et al. Long-term outcome after coronary artery bypass surgery. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Aug. 22, 2012.
- Aranki S, et al. Early noncardiac complications after coronary artery bypass surgery. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Aug. 22, 2012.
- McGinn JT, et al. Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting: Dual-center experience in 450 consecutive patients. Circulation. 2009;120:S78.
- Arena R, et al. Increasing referral and participation rates to outpatient cardiac rehabilitation: The valuable role of healthcare professionals in the inpatient and home health settings. Circulation. 2012;125:1321.
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