CABG (Heart Bypass Surgery)

If the patient’s heart bypass surgery is scheduled in advance and not under emergency circumstances, he/she will have to follow several pre-operative appointments with the doctor, which will include enquiry about the patient’s health and family history.

The patient will have to pass through several tests to provide a clear picture of his/her health to the doctor. These tests include:

• Electrocardiogram
• Blood samples
• Angiogram
• Chest X-ray
• The patient will have to stop all medication that affects how the process of blood clotting (This is because several pain relievers and heart medications affect the process of clotting). One should not stop these medications unless told by the doctor.
• It has to be made sure that any symptoms of a cold or flu are informed to the doctor as heart infections can reflect very serious effects.
• Quit smoking.
• Make arrangements for the patient’s weeklong stay at the hospital.
• To minimise the risk of infection, the patient should ensure to wash his/her body with a special soap just a day prior to the procedure.
• Stop water intake (12 to 14 hours before the surgery)
• Strictly adhere to all the medications prescribed by the doctor.
• The patient will be given an IV before the surgery through which medication, fluids, and anaesthesia will be provided.

• The surgeon first removes a blood vessel, termed as a graft, from another part of the patient’s body, such as the chest, leg, or arm.
• The surgeon then attaches one end of it to the patient’s aorta, which is a large artery that comes out of a person’s heart and the other end is then attached to an artery below the blockage.
• The graft forms a new direction for the blood to flow to the patient’s ticker. If the patient is suffering from more than one blockage, then the surgeon will perform one or more bypass procedures during the phase of the same surgery.
• This entire process will be carried out in an average time of 3 to 6 hours, while the patient is fully asleep.
• The surgery can be performed by stopping the heart and temporarily using a heart-lung machine to maintain circulation. There are now techniques where the surgery is performed in a beating heart. Earlier chest bone was cut to open the chest but now many centres have endoscopic keyhole techniques for such surgery.

• The person wakes up in an ICU with a tube in his/her mouth that assists in breathing.
• The patient usually feels uncomfortable and won’t be in a condition to talk.
• Nurses are there with the patient to help during this phase. The tube is removed by them soon after the patient gathers the strength to breathe on his/her own.
• Few of the machines will be hooked up to the patient to monitor the vital signs round the clock, such as heart rate and blood pressure.
• The patient will be kept in the intensive care unit for a few days before being transferred to a hospital room.
• The patient will be required to stay in the hospital room for about 3 to 5 more days before getting discharged.

The heart bypass surgery may follow the following complications:

• Infection and bleeding at the area of incision
• Reactions to anaesthesia
• Heart attack
• Stroke

However, once the patient recovers, the symptoms of angina will vanish. The person becomes more active and shows lower risk of experiencing a heart attack. Moreover, the surgery adds years to the patient’s life.

Being a patient-centric organization, Relihealth believes in the holistic and integrated approach towards providing compassionate care to every patient. Hence, year on year, our selected panel of heart surgeons achieve unmatched successful surgical outcomes even for the most complex cases. We value every patient, thus, we analyze, research and recommend the best hospitals and top doctors to them, as per their needs. We have a pool of best heart surgeons who have rich experience and expertise in all areas of heart surgery like open heart bypass surgery, heart transplants and other related complex treatments. The high-end and reliable treatments we arrange are at economical costs which make us the preferred choice of the patients. Hence, we are widely seen as one of the primary healthcare providers in India that offers complete care and guidance to patients requiring heart treatment.