Coronary bypass surgery | BHF

Coronary or heart bypass surgery can relieve chest pain. In the operation, your surgeon uses a blood vessel from your leg, arm or chest to bypass a narrowed ... 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Coronarybypasssurgery Hearttransplant Implantablecardioverterdefibrillator(ICD) Medicinesforheartconditions Heartpacemakers Statins TAVI(Transcatheteraorticvalveimplantation) Heartvalvesurgery Howyoucanhelp Back Howyoucanhelp Becomeacorporatepartner Back Becomeacorporatepartner Ourcurrentpartners Waystoworktogether Whysupportus DonatetotheBHF Back DonatetotheBHF Donatemoneyonlineorbypost Donatetoourshops Donateyourshares Giveinmemory HeartofSteel Otherwaystodonate Oursupporterpromise Philanthropy Sponsorafriendorfamilymember BHFWeeklyLottery YourDonation Takepartinanevent Back Takepartinanevent Virtual/Remote BikeRides LondontoBrightonBikeRide OtherEvents Runs Schools Swims Walks&Treks Fundraising Back Fundraising Becomeacorporatepartner Becomealocalfundraisingvolunteer Doyourownfundraising Fundraiseforaspecialoccasion Ideas,tipsandresources LivestreamfortheBHF Payinyourfundraising Rememberalovedonewithatributefund Schools&youngpeople'sfundraising Speaktoyourlocalfundraisingmanager Takeononeofourchallenges VirtualCollections Promoteworkplacewellbeing Back Promoteworkplacewellbeing DefibrillatorsandCPRtraining Digitalwellbeingassessment On-sitehealthchecks Whatweoffer HelpshapetheBHF'swork Back HelpshapetheBHF'swork CrossPartyGroupInquiryintoAtrialFibrillationinScotland CrossPartyGroupInquiryintoHighBloodPressureinScotland PatientimpactontheBHF Shona'sstory Learnhowtosavealife Back Learnhowtosavealife CPRtrainingatwork CPRtrainingincommunities CPRtraininginschools Defibrillators HowtodoCPR LeaveagiftinyourWill Back LeaveagiftinyourWill DoIhavetopaytaxongiftsinmyWill Takepartinanevent GetfreehelpwritingyourWill GiftsinWillsglossary RequestafreegiftinWillsguide Informationforsolicitorsandexecutors WhatgiftcanIleaveinmyWill WhyleaveagifttotheBHFinyourWill Shareyourstory Volunteer Back Volunteer ActionTeam Eventvolunteering Fundraisingvolunteering Volunteerandgainnewskills Volunteerandmeetnewpeople   Volunteerandpowerourlifesavingresearch VolunteerFAQs Volunteerinourshops DukeofEdinburgh'sAwardvolunteering Shop Back Shop Ourhighstreetcharityshops Donateyouritems Back Donateyouritems Bookafreefurnitureandelectricalgoodscollection GiftAidyourdonations Declutterforgood Donatetoyourlocalcharityshops Hotelfurnitureclearanceservice HouseClearances Business&organisationpartnerships Postyourdonations Donateclothes,booksandmore UrgentStockAppeal Whattodonate Findyourlocalshop Homestores Back Homestores Christmasdecoratingideasforthehome 10%studentdiscountonpre-lovedfurnitureandelectricalitems Interiordesign StartaReuseRevolution Shoppinginspiration Upcyclingideas Onlineshop OureBayshop Retailcustomerservices Back Retailcustomerservices BecomeaGiftAider Retailcustomerservicecontactform Contactus Donatesafelytoourclothingandbookshops Donatesafelyusingourhouseclearanceservice Donatesafelytoourhomestores Operatingasafedeliveryserviceforourhomestores Paymentandreceipts Refundsandexchanges Safetymeasures Storageofpaidforgoods Volunteerinourshops Whatwedo Back Whatwedo OurAnnualReport2021 Ourstrategy Back Ourstrategy Weworkwithpatientsandthepublicforbetterhealthandcare Changeswewanttoseeintheworld Wegrowsupportandincome Wefundresearchtosaveandimprovelives Westriveforexcellence Celebrateour60thbirthday Back Celebrateour60thbirthday Frombirthtoadulthood-congenitalheartdisease Heartfailureandsuccess,achangeofheart Ourcorporatepartners Preventingandtreatingbloodvesseldamage Protectingthebrain Reducingyourrisk-‘itrunsinthefamily’  Statinssavelives Tacklinghealthinequalities TheBigBeatChallenge Thecauseofheartattack Treatingatrialfibrillationtopreventstrokesanddementia Contactus Back Contactus Feedbackandcomplaints BHFinyourarea Back BHFinyourarea Cymru HeartHeroAwards2022 NorthernIreland Publicengagementevents Scotland Wales Ourpeople Back Ourpeople Howwearegoverned OurExecutiveGroup OurTrustees Ourambassadors OurRoyalPatron Ourresearch Back Ourresearch Heartconditionsresearch Circulatoryconditionsresearch Riskfactorresearch Researchfundingdatavisualised Ourresearchsuccesses Ourclinicaltrials HeartStatistics Heartstatisticsvisualised ResearchExcellenceandAcceleratorAwards OurProfessors Ourscienceimagecompetition Influencingchange Back Influencingchange Campaignsuccesses Supportingthecharitysector CreatingHealthierEnvironments LegacyofCovid PolicyresponsetoCovid-19 StrengtheningHealth&Caresystems Turningbackthetideonheartandcirculatorydiseases Workinginpartnershipwithothers Weworkwithgovernment Whereyourmoneygoes Whoweare Workwithus Forprofessionals Coronavirus Signin/Register Home Information&support Treatments Coronarybypasssurgery DoIneedbypasssurgery? Ifyou’vebeendiagnosedwithcoronaryheartdiseaseorangina,yourdoctormightsuggestabypassoperationtohelpimprovethebloodsupplytoyourheartmuscle.Thiswillhelptorelieveanginasymptomsandimproveyourqualityoflife. Whathappensduringbypasssurgery? Yourarteriesgetnarrowedwhenfattydepositsbuildupontheinnerwallsofyourarteries.Theaimofcoronarybypasssurgeryistobypass–or‘getaround’-thenarrowedsectionsofyourcoronaryarteries. Thesurgeondoesthisbygraftingabloodvesselbetweentheaorta(themainbloodvesselleavingtheheart)andapointalongthecoronaryartery,pastthenarrowedarea. Inmostcases,atleastoneofthebloodvesselsusedasabypassgraftisanarteryfromyourchestcalledtheinternalmammaryartery. Bloodvesselssuchasaveinfromyourlegsandsometimesanarteryfromyourarmsareusedfortheothergrafts.Youcanhaveonegraft,butit’smorecommontohavetwo,threeorfour(oftencalleddouble,tripleorquadruplebypasses). Theoperation Duringthisprocedure,surgeonsusuallymakeacutdownthemiddleofthebreastbonetoreachyourheart.Butinsomeoperationsthebreastbonedoesn'tneedtobecut.Thisiscalledminimallyinvasivesurgery. Ifyoursurgeonneedstocutyourbreastbone,youwillhavealongwounddownthemiddleofyourchest.Ifyouhavehadaveingraftfromyourlegoranarterygraftfromyourarm,youwillhaveasmallerwoundintheseplacestoo. Aheart-lungbypassmachinecirculatesthebloodaroundyourbodywhilethesurgeonoperatesonyourheart,butsomesurgeonscarryoutcoronarybypassoperationswithoutthismachine.Thisiscalledbeatingheartsurgery. Whathappensaftersurgery? Afteryouroperationyouwillbemovedtointensivecareforclosemonitoringuntilyouwakeup.Onceyourconditionisstable,youwillbemovedtothehighdependencyunitorthecardiacward. Thebenefitsofheartbypasssurgery Mostpeoplegetexcellentrelieffromanginaandimprovedqualityoflife.  Therisks Therisksofheartbypasssurgeryaredifferentfrompersontoperson,dependingontheseverityofheartdisease,typeofoperation,age,andcurrentstateofhealth. Recovery Youshouldbeoutofbedinadayortwoandreturnhomeafteraweek,withfullrecoveryaftertwoorthreemonthsdependingonyourfitness,ageandhowseveretheproblemwas. WhatshouldIdowhenIgohome? Inmanyhospitals,afteraheartbypassoperation,amemberofthecardiacrehabilitationteamwillseeyouonthewardtogiveyouinformationaboutyourconditionandthetreatmentyouhavehad. Theywilltalktoyouaboutmakinglifestylechangesandhowtoreduceyourriskfactors(thethingsthatincreaseyourriskofheartdisease)tohelpprotectyourheartinthefuture.Youcanalsoasktherehabilitationstaffanyquestionsaboutyourrecovery. Surgeryisnotacure-soit'simportanttolookafteryourhearthealthlongterm. WhocanItalkto? Asthedayofyoursurgerygetscloser,youmaybefeelingawholerangeofemotions.Youmayfeelanxious,afraid,angry,worriedaboutthefutureorgladthatyouareabouttohavetreatment.It’snaturaltohavethesesortoffeelingsandit'simportanttotalkaboutthemwithyourpartner,afriend,relativeorhealthcareprofessional. Ifyouhaveanyquestions,talktoyourdoctororcallourHeartHelplineon03003303311. Wanttoknowmore? Orderordownloadourpublications: Havingheartsurgery Booklet Tests Booklet Cardiacrehabilitation Booklet Treatmentsforheartandcirculatoryconditions Ablation Cardioversion Coronaryangioplastyandstents Coronarybypasssurgery Hearttransplant Implantablecardioverterdefibrillator(ICD) Medicinesforheartconditions Heartpacemakers Statins TAVI(Transcatheteraorticvalveimplantation) Heartvalvesurgery RelatedLinks Angina Coronaryheartdisease Cardiacrehabilitation Howyourheartworks