Coronary artery bypass surgery has become a cornerstone of treatment for coronary artery disease. Developed in the mid 1970s, the surgery has been performed successfully now for more than two decades and offers an important option for patients who cannot be treated effectively with other procedures, such as balloon angioplasty or atherectomy, or who have had recurrence of disease after other procedures.

The word “bypass” refers to the creation of a new pathway for blood flow to the heart so that it goes around, or bypasses, the obstructed segment of coronary artery. The bypass is created by a blood vessel graft, taken from another location in the body. A leg vein is the most common graft vessel in open heart operations, while a blood vessel from the chest is used in the newer, “closed chest” or endoscopic coronary artery bypass graft procedure.

The graft is then connected to the affected coronary artery above and below the site of obstruction, and tested to ensure that blood flows normally through the graft to the open segment of artery and the heart muscle. A heart-lung bypass machine is used during the surgery to maintain circulation of blood through the body while the heart is stilled for the operation. The average hospital stay for bypass surgery has been decreased significantly over the past decade, from 12 days in 1988 to approximately five days today.