Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Bypass surgery, CABG, Coronary artery bypass graft

If you have coronary artery disease (CAD), the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart muscle become hardened and narrowed. If lifestyle changes and medicines don't help, your doctor may recommend coronary artery bypass surgery.

The surgery uses a piece of a vein from the leg or artery from the chest or wrist. The surgeon attaches this to the coronary artery above and below the narrowed area or blockage. This allows blood to bypass the blockage. Some people need more than one bypass.

You may need bypass surgery for various reasons. Another procedure for CAD, angioplasty, may not have widened the artery enough. In some cases, the angioplasty tube can't reach the blockage.

A bypass also can close again. This happens in more than 10 percent of bypass surgeries, usually after 10 or more years.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG)(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/coronaryarterybypassgraft/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/coronaryarterybypassgraftspanish/htm/index.htm
Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cabg/cabg_whatis.html
JAMA Patient Page: Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting(American Medical Association) - Links to PDF - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/299/15/1856.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/299/15/1856/DC1/1

Overviews

Coronary Bypass Surgery(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/coronary-bypass-surgery/MY00087/METHOD=print&DSECTION=all
Heart Attack: Special Procedures(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/actintime/aha/spepro.htm
On-Pump and Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting(American Heart Association) - http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/113/4/e51
What Is Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG)?(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/adultcardiacsurgery/cabg/

Latest News

Fewer Heart Surgeries Needed as Technology Improves(05/08/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_84025.html
Plavix, Heartburn Drugs May Be Risky Combination(05/06/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_83909.html
Reverence for Life Aids Recovery from Heart Surgery(05/01/2009, Reuters Health) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_83721.html
More News on Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alphanews_c.html#coronaryarterybypasssurgery

Diagnosis/Symptoms

Coronary Angiography(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ca/ca_whatis.html
Coronary Angiography and Possible Angioplasty(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/coronaryangiographyandpossibleangioplasty/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/coronaryangiographyandpossibleangioplastyspanish/htm/index.htm

Rehabilitation/Recovery

Cardiac Rehabilitation(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/rehab/rehab_whatis.html
Cardiac Rehabilitation(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/cardiacrehabilitation/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/cardiacrehabilitationspanish/htm/index.htm
Cardiac Rehabilitation: Building a Better Life After Heart Disease(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/cardiac-rehabilitation/HB00017/METHOD=print
What to Expect After Heart Surgery(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/adultcardiacsurgery/heartsurgery/

Specific Conditions

Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4702
Open Heart Surgery - What to Expect(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/openheartsurgerywhattoexpect/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/openheartsurgerywhattoexpectspanish/htm/index.htm

Related Issues

What Happens After Heart Surgery?(American Heart Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/110080657690951%20WhtHppnsAftrHrtSrgry.pdf

Tutorials

Cardiac Rehabilitation(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/cardiacrehabilitation/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/cardiacrehabilitationspanish/htm/index.htm
Coronary Angiography and Possible Angioplasty(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/coronaryangiographyandpossibleangioplasty/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/coronaryangiographyandpossibleangioplastyspanish/htm/index.htm
Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG)(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/coronaryarterybypassgraft/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/coronaryarterybypassgraftspanish/htm/index.htm
Open Heart Surgery - What to Expect(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/openheartsurgerywhattoexpect/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/openheartsurgerywhattoexpectspanish/htm/index.htm

Videos

Coronary Artery Bypass Graft(OR-Live) - One hour program - 2/05/2008 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/nlm-flash/geh_2044/rnh.cfm?id=695
Off-Pump Beating Heart Bypass(OR-Live) - One hour program - 3/8/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=412
Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass: A Beating Heart Procedure(OR-Live) - One hour program - 10/04/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/nlm-flash/meh_1789/rnh.cfm?id=621
Robot-Assisted Coronary Artery Bypass(OR-Live) - One hour program - 11/02/2006 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=329
Robot-Assisted Heart Bypass with Cardiac Catheterization(OR-Live) - One hour program - 2/28/2007 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/NLM/rnh.cfm?id=415
Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Operation(OR-Live) - One hour program - 2/12/2008 - http://www.or-live.com/distributors/nlm-flash/pin_2120/rnh.cfm?id=701

Anatomy/Physiology

Heart Anatomy(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Anatomy/anatomy2.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Anatomy_Esp/anato_sp.cfm
How the Heart Works(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hhw/hhw_whatis.html

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Coronary Artery Bypass(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/intervention=coronary+artery+bypass

Research

"Report Cards" Don't Reflect Preventable Bypass Deaths(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=431

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Disease progression in nonintervened saphenous vein graft segments a serial... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19358938&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Stents and bypass each have a role in treating coronary... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19350729&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Treatment of depression after coronary artery bypass surgery: a randomized... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19349308&tool=MedlinePlus
Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(coronary+artery+bypass[majr]+NOT+angioplasty[majr])+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text]+OR+systematic[sb])+NOT+(case+reports[pt]+OR+letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Cardiac Glossary(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038158
Heart Surgery Terms(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/otherresources/heartsurgterms/

Organizations

American Heart Association - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
Society of Thoracic Surgeons - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/

Statistics

Angioplasty and Cardiac Revascularization Statistics(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4439
Open-Heart Surgery Statistics(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4674

Women

Bypass Surgery(Cardiovascular Research Foundation) - http://www.hearthealthywomen.org/index.php?view=article&id=144&Itemid=1&option=com_content

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Angioplasty - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/angioplasty.html
Heart Surgery - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartsurgery.html
Blood, Heart and Circulation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodheartandcirculation.html
Surgery and Rehabilitation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/surgeryandrehabilitation.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/

Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/coronaryarterybypasssurgery.html