If you have blockages in three or more coronary arteries (coronary artery disease or CAD), your cardiologist is likely to recommend bypass surgery. A coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) works on the principle of grafts- arteries or veins from other parts of your body and using these grafts as alternative pathways to redirect the blood around the blocked artery. Either a single or numerous grafts could be needed, depending on how many coronary arteries are choked-up. In an attempt to improve outcomes after surgery and advanced technology, surgeons can now perform coronary artery bypass surgery without the need for cardiopulmonary bypass. This surgery is also called the off-pump bypass (or the “beating heart”) surgery.
How is off-pump heart bypass Surgery different from coronary artery bypass surgery ?
Conventionally, the coronary artery bypass surgery is performed with the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass. The heart-lung machine is then attached which allows the heart’s beating to be stilled, so that the surgeon can then operate on a surface which is still and free of blood. The job of the heart-lung machine is to maintain life despite the deficient heartbeat, taking away carbon dioxide from the blood and reinvigorating it with oxygen before pumping it around the body. The heart-lung machine serves the purpose of both the heart and lungs in this procedure. The basic difference between the off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery and the traditional coronary artery bypass surgery, is that the heart-lung machine is not used. Rather than arresting the heart and its beating, technological advances and novel operating equipment now allow the surgeon to hold and stabilize portions of the heart during surgery. Once a particular area of the heart stabilized, the surgeon can then bypass the blocked artery in a highly controlled operative environment by placing the arterial graft taken from another part of the body just before the arterial block at one end and attaching to the aorta at the other end. In the meantime, the rest of the heart keeps pumping and circulates blood to the body.
When is off-pump heart bypass surgery indicated ?
Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery is a good option in certain patients with coronary artery disease. With the current technology, all arteries on the heart can be bypassed off-pump. It is recommended for certain patients who are at increased risk for complications from cardiopulmonary bypass, such as those who have heavy calcification in the aorta, liver cirrhosis, or compromised pulmonary or renal function. It is not recommended for all patients. The selection of patients who undergo off-pump heart bypass surgery is made at the time of surgery once the patient’s heart and arteries are evaluated in detail.
How to find and reach heart surgeons for heart bypass surgery ?
Now you can find and reach heart surgeons from different hospitals and destinations on a single platform, Hinfoways. You can avail opinions and information from multiple heart surgeons, get approximate cost of heart bypass surgery from various heart hospitals, compare things and then choose a heart bypass surgeon for your heart surgery.
Find, reach and choose a heart surgeon for your heart surgery on Hinfoways. Make an informed choice.
Disclaimer: The content provided here is meant for general informational purposes only and hence SHOULD NOT be relied upon as a substitute for sound professional medical advice, care or evaluation by a qualified doctor/physician or other relevantly qualified healthcare provider.
