To stop the heart without harming you during any heart surgery Cardiopulmonary Bypass is
used. This means a machine is used to do the work of
your heart and lungs.
Your surgeon puts two to three large tubes in your heart
so blood can come out of your body, travel into the
machine, get oxygen and then travel back into your
body to supply it with oxygen just as if your heart was
beating. Your heart is kept still with various medication
and ice. When the surgery is finished, your heart is
warmed up, allowed to beat again, and the tubes for
bypass machine are taken out.
Sometimes a CABG surgery can also be performed on a
beating heart or "off bypass". Special tools are used to
keep areas of the heart still so the vessels can be sewn
safely. Different factors such as age, health of the heart
and aorta, location of your clogged arteries; will determine if this is the best option for you.
HOW IS MY CHEST CLOSED?
When the surgery is done and your heart is beating well your
breast bone will be brought back together with steel wires. These
will stay in your chest forever, even after your sternum has healed.
Your skin will be sewn together with sutures that will dissolve
over time. You will not need to have these sutures removed. You
will get instructions after your surgery on how to protect your
healing breastbone and new incision.
Chest Tubes after coronary artery bypass surgery
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