What is a CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft) ?

CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft) is open heart surgery where a new pathway is created for blood to flow around a blocked artery (caused by Coronary artery disease). The path is usually a tube (artery or vein) which is removed from elsewhere in the body and sewn to an area creating a bridge above the blockage. These tubes allow blood to flow through this newly created bridge bypassing the blockage and restoring blood flow to the area which was deprived due to this blockage. This procedure is usually done with the aid of the heart lung machine while the heart is stopped; however, it can also be performed on the beating heart. Each area of narrowing/blockage is remedied by an individual bypass so that all the blockages are relieved with these new paths. The number of bypasses correlates with the number of arteries which are blocked. Normally the blockages themselves are not removed.


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