Things You Should Know For Heart Bypass Surgery

Heart bypass surgery is done in a patient to allow the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart. The surgery is said to be done in a patient when the coronary artery bypass surgery arteries are blocked and the heart gets an insufficient amount of blood. This is known as coronary artery disease and it tends to bring heavy chest pain. Although some of coronary artery diseases can be treated using medicines, some cases do need heart bypass surgery to recover from it. Doctors are really talented in pursuing a surgery for such diseases and many people all around the world get treated and they are said to live for long years after undergoing the heart bypass surgery. The surgery has become very common and many people prefer for it to stay live in this world. The following are some of the facts and the treatment that is being involved during the surgery.

What happens before the surgery?

The doctor gives anesthesia to the patients before the surgery. Anesthesia can make a person turn unconscious and they can never experience a pain during the operation. This makes the doctors work on the heart in a relaxed manner and they can very well concentrate on the surgery. The patients can never realize that they are being treated on their heart as they would be in deep sleep mode. Anesthesia is given for long hours so that the patients are unconscious until the surgery gets over. People who are undergoing bypass surgery is said to be connected to the bypass pump or to a heart-lung machine that acts as a heart during the surgery time. The heart stops working during the surgery and these machines are attached to work at the heart for the patients. The machine takes in charge in circulating the blood and adds oxygen to it. Some doctors treat patients without these machines and it happens only in rare cases. The bypass during such cases is created by the heart beating and working as usual.

What does the doctor do during the surgery?

When the patient becomes totally unconscious, the surgeon is said to cut about ten inches long on the chest of the patient. The breastbone is being separated to make the surgeon to watch the heart and the aorta. The surgeon takes a vein or artery from any other part of the patient’s body and makes use of it as a graft that is said to work around the blocked areas of the artery. Saphenous vein from the leg is used as an incision to cut the vein that moves towards the heart. When the grafting is being done, the surgeon makes sure that the patient’s breastbone has been reconnected with the wire and the incision has been closed.

Mostly the surgery involved around five to six hours of time. The patient is said to be kept under the intensive care unit after the heart bypass surgery. A flexible tube that has been called a catheter gets connected to the urinal parts to drain the urine from the body. Treatment for heart bypass surgery is very common and the patient can easily overcome the chest pain after the surgery.

Other facts

The human heart is an important organ. It beats thousands of times each day. It pumps about 5 million gallons of blood through your body. If any arteries of the heart get blocked, it results in heart attack. This kind of blockage is normally caused due to the saturation of fatty acid that saturate in the heart arteries from many years. Clogged arteries are usually because of the high cholesterol in the diet and consuming fatty foods throughout the day. Any heart arteries when get blocked and an individual suffers from heart attack, one common process is implemented. This is called as bypass surgery for heart In this surgery, a new piece of blood vessel is bypassed to fill the gap of blockage. In many cases, the surgeon will fix not only the immediate problem, but also other arteries on the heart that are starting to look blocked. If the surgeon repairs three of the arteries, it is called a triple bypass. If four arteries are repaired, it is a quadruple bypass.

Procedure

Before you are operating for this heart bypass surgery, your surgeon will give you local anaesthesia. This will reduce all the pain and you will be asleep for hours. Once you are asleep, the surgeon will inject 8-10 inch surgical knife in the middle of the chest. An opening will occur that separates the breastbone. Hence, it allows your heart surgeon to get a clear view of your heart, main blood vessel and aorta. Your advisor might suggest this process if you have an obstacle in your coronary arteries. Coronary arteries are the tiny blood vessels which supply the heart with enough nutrients and oxygen that is carried to your blood. When the coronary arteries turn partly or compeltely blocked, the heart doesn’t get the required blood. This is termed as ischemic heart disease and also known as the coronary artery disease. Chest pain is an ancilliar effect.

Risks Involved

There are some risks when operating heart bypass surgery. There might be possibility of blood clotting in the legs that directly travel to the lungs. A patient may suffer breathing problems. There might be also a possibility of infection in the lungs, chest and urinary tract. A patient can even lose litres of blood from the body. Once your doctor diagnoses these problems, he/she will discuss in details. You also need to discuss about the medical history, allergies and current medications. Once you visit the hospital, your doctor will check your blood pressure and heart rate. The patient will also undergo various medical tests so as to perform operations in successfully.

Once the operation is done, taking care of your health is very important. You should take all prescribed medicines. You should engage in some activities such as maintaining proper diet which includes food that are low in fat. Rest, follow your cardiac surgeon in Coimbatore recommendation on diet and exercise and you will be fit and fine. Lastly, keep in mind to avoid fried and junk foods including alcohol and smoking.