Private heart bypass surgery (CABG)

If you have coronary heart disease, having heart bypass surgery can help to improve your quality of life. People may suffer from shortness of breath, fatigue and palpitations as a result of coronary heart disease, symptoms which a heart bypass operation can help to alleviate.

In more serious cases, it can help reduce your risk of major heart conditions such as peripheral arterial disease (PAD), angina, stroke and heart attack.

Heart bypass surgery is a major operation and, as with any surgery, it comes with potential risks and complications. Our expert consultants and cardiologists will be there to offer you guidance and discuss the potential risks with you ahead of your procedure.

Some of the possible complications associated with heart bypass surgery include:

• Irregular heartbeat (arrhythmias)
• Bleeding
• Blood clots
• Infections
• Temporary breathing problems
• Pneumonia
• Kidney problems or kidney failure
• Temporary memory issues
• Side effects from general anaesthesia such as confusion, sickness or dizziness
• Stroke
• Heart failure 

Depending on the individual, there may be contributing factors that mean you are more likely to be at risk of complications following your heart bypass procedure. These can include your age and whether you have any other serious health conditions such as diabetes, COPD or kidney disease. As with any other major operation, open-heart surgery carries the risk of death; however, at HCA UK, the survival rate of CABG operations is 99.6%.

You will be seen by your specialist consultant and a cardiac surgery clinical nurse specialist who will discuss the reasons for recommending surgery. You will be told of the risks of the operation and the risks of not having surgery.

All aspects of the procedure, including side effects, will be discussed with your expert team ahead of the procedure. As you're having a general anaesthetic, you'll be asked to stop eating and drinking for six hours beforehand.

Before

Before surgery is confirmed, you will have to undergo a series of tests. These will help to establish as much detail as possible about your case and determine the best treatment for your condition. These tests may include:

• Blood tests
  
• Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)
  
• Echocardiogram
  
• Cardiac CT scan with calcium score
  
• X-ray
  
• Coronary angiogram pulmonary function tests
  
• Carotid artery ultrasound
  
• Physical examination
  
• Exercise stress test
  
• Cardiac stress test
  

Our leading team of specialists will also provide you with a detailed plan of what you need to do ahead of your admission into one of our hospitals for your heart bypass procedure, as well as advice for preparations for your eventual discharge which you can make ahead of time.

This will include advice on the medications you may need to take, what type of food and drink you can have after the procedure, and what sort of care you will need at home while you recover.

During

A conventional heart bypass operation is a major procedure that is done in a hospital and generally lasts between three and four hours. This will depend on how many blood vessels are being harvested and reattached during the procedure.

Under general anaesthetic, your surgeon will harvest blood vessels from other parts of your body such as the legs or arms before an incision is made in your breastbone so that there is clear access to your heart. The heart is temporarily stopped with medicine; you will be placed on a heart-lung machine that keeps blood and oxygen pumping around the body.
The cardiovascular surgeon will then take the harvested blood vessel or vessels and graft them around the blocked artery, creating a new pathway for your blood supply around the blockage.

Once the grafts have been attached, your heart will be restarted, your breastbone will be wired shut and you will be sewn up with stitches so the incision can heal.

After

Immediately after heart bypass surgery, you'll be transferred to a cardiac intensive care unit so you can be monitored until you wake up. Once your condition is stable, you'll be moved to the high-dependency unit or the cardiac ward. You should be out of bed the next day but you'll be cared for in hospital by our dedicated team for around a week following your heart bypass procedure and will be given painkillers to relieve any pain.

Once you've been discharged, you'll need help at home, so you should arrange for someone to stay with you for a couple of weeks following the procedure. You'll also need to arrange for someone to help you get home from the hospital, and you will not be able to drive for one month.

You should be able to do light activities such as walking short distances or lifting light objects within the first few days after your discharge, with more strenuous activities to follow within the coming weeks.

You will be seen by your consultant about six weeks after the operation. You should make a full recovery after about three months, depending on your fitness, age and how severe the problem was. Your cardiac consultant will be on hand to let you know what to expect and to offer you support throughout your recovery.