Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting is recommended for the patients suffering from severe form of Coronary Artery Disease or Coronary Heart Disease. Under this condition, the coronary arteries get clogged by plaque made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances usually in blood blocking oxygen-rich to the heart. Plaque buildup in the arteries can lead to angina or chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue and even heart attack, if not treated on time.

Doctors recommend Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting to deal with this condition, in which the expert surgeon takes a healthy artery or vein, which is called a conduit and connects or grafts it to a point beyond bypassing the blocked portion of the artery, creating a new route for the supply of oxygen-rich blood to flow smoothly.

The procedure can be performed in either of the two ways – On Pump CABG or Off Pump CABG.

On Pump CABG

It is relatively a traditional procedure in which the heart is accessed through chest bone and it gets stopped with medicines. Instead, the heart-lung bypass machine come into action to supply blood and oxygen throughout the body. The surgeon can operate on the still heart and after the completion of the procedure, the blood flow gets restored making the heart function again on its own.

Off Pump CABG

Also known as Beating Heart Bypass Surgery, under this procedure the surgery would be conducted without stopping the heart.

Both the techniques offer the same end result to the patients. The expert doctor would recommend the procedure depending upon various factors like severity of the symptoms, location of blockages, patient’s health condition, response to the treatment etc.