Over the past three decades, coronary bypass surgery has been in use to treat blocked heart arteries. In bypass operation, blood vessels from other parts of the body are used so as to redirect the blood around the blocked artery and thus, re-establishing the good blood flow, to the heart muscles.

According to some findings, the difference between the survival rates of heart patients treated with bypass surgery and those treated with medication is very little. The best part of this coronary bypass surgery is that it is for pain relief.

Conditions when Coronary Bypass Surgery can act as Savior

Most often, coronary bypass surgery is performed for pain relief instead of prolonging life. Nevertheless, there are certain instances when the bypass surgery becomes failure which might prove even fatal. Some of these situations are:

If the left main coronary artery is narrowed or blocked bleakly, it will block the supply of blood as well as oxygen to the left ventricle (the main pump of the heart) completely. It might lead to potentially fatal heart attack or serious damage to the left ventricle.

In another situation, if the sufferer has two or more coronary lesions and left ventricle functioning properly; it indicates that the person may have early signs and symptoms of heart disease. The sufferer will exhaust easily and the heart will pump rapidly but weakly.

The sufferer may experience chest pain or unbearable angina which occurs due to narrowed arteries. It is considered as a vital indicator for the need of bypass surgery as heart muscles get poor oxygen supply.

Coronary bypass surgery is done in a situation when it is not possible to open the blockage using angioplasty or in a case when the blockage occurs again after angioplasty.

Life after Coronary Bypass Surgery

No doubt, bypass operation improves blood flow to the heart; it cannot be said as a cure for underlying coronary artery disease. There is a possibility of the occurrence of new blockages in the grafts or in arteries not bypassed. Thus, it becomes important to fight this problem by adopting healthy diet and lifestyle and also with aggressive treatment of high cholesterol levels. Smoking must be given up as it reduces cholesterol level in a case it is elevated. Also, the sufferer needs to maintain a healthy weight, control blood sugar and diabetes and exercise regularly.

Success Rate of Coronary Heart Surgery

The main success rate for bypass operation is about 98 percent. The patients with severely damaged heart muscles and blocked arteries tend to have higher risk. It must be noted here that no surgery can be carried out without potential risks involved. There are a lot of complications like arrhythmias, kidney failure, infections and stroke which may happen even after surgery.