Open heart surgery and Bypass surgery are complex surgeries that are done to treat heart problems. However, there are a few distinctions between these two procedures.

Open heart surgery is defined as any procedure that begins with the opening of your chest. It’s important to note that the term ‘open’ refers to a chest opening rather than the heart itself. The heart may or may not be opened during open-heart surgery.

It could also include surgeries on the heart’s arteries, valves, or muscles. Small incisions on the chest may be made during this procedure.

Bypass surgery is performed when the blood flow via the arteries is obstructed. When the coronary arteries that provide blood to the heart become clogged with plaque, blood flow might get obstructed.

Plaque is formed by the accumulation of fat, cholesterol and other substances in the arteries. The formation of plaque makes it difficult for blood to circulate freely through the heart. A bypass procedure ‘bypasses’ the blockage of the artery, allowing blood to flow freely to the heart.

When is Open Heart Surgery Needed?

Open heart surgery is usually done in the following cases:

• To perform Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG)
• Heart transplantation
• Implanting medical device in the heart
• Repairing damaged areas of the heart
• Repairing or replacing heart valves

Procedure of Open Heart Surgery

Before you even decide to get this surgery done, you should disclose about any medications that you’re taking, including over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and herbs to your cardiologist. Notify them about your alcohol consumption and about any illnesses that you’re suffering from.

Your doctor may ask you to stop smoking and cease using blood-thinning medicines such as aspirin or ibuprofen two weeks before surgery.

Before starting the procedure of open-heart surgery, the patient is given general anaesthesia. This ensures that they are asleep and pain-free throughout the entire procedure. Then the surgeon creates an 8 to 10-inch incision in the chest.  To expose the heart, the surgeon breaks through all or part of the patient’s breastbone.

The patient may be linked to a heart-lung bypass machine after the heart is located. The surgeon creates a new channel around the obstructed artery by using a healthy vein or artery and then uses a wire to close the breastbone and leaves the wire within the body. The original cut is sewn back together.

Also Read: https://www.healinghospital.co.in/how-to-live-longer-with-heart-failure/

When is Bypass Surgery Needed?

The three coronary arteries of the heart are not all created equal. The left anterior descending artery (LAD) is the most significant artery. For a blocked LAD, bypass surgery is typically the best option. Even if both of the other arteries are blocked, and LAD is not obstructed and there are no other complicating issues, stents are more likely to be used.

Also, LAD bypass uses the mammary artery for the graft, which is positioned in the chest near the heart. CABG utilising the mammary artery continues for decades as the risk of complications are very low. Furthermore, the mammary artery is almost immune to blockage.

Lastly, bypass surgery is also generally the best choice in factors such as diabetes.

Also Read: https://www.healinghospital.co.in/chest-pain-and-heart-attack-in-the-young/

Procedure of Bypass Surgery

Surgeons use heart bypass surgery to operate the patients if other less invasive procedures and medications do not work. In heart bypass surgery, a blood artery from the chest, arms, or legs is removed and used to form a diversion or bypass around the blockage. This permits blood to return to the heart.

Surgeons can operate on many arteries at the same time. A double bypass involves two repairs, a triple bypass involves three, and a quadruple bypass involves four repairs. The quintuple bypass is the most complicated cardiac bypass surgery as it involves bypassing all five of the heart’s main arteries.

Get the best treatment for Open Heart Surgery and Bypass Surgery in Chandigarh here: https://www.healinghospital.co.in/cardiology-department/