It has been seen that there are more chances of complications developing after heart bypass surgery if it was an emergency situation (for example, if performed during a heart attack), if you are over 70, or if you are or were a smoker. You are also more at risk if you have other diseases or conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, lung disease, or peripheral vascular disease.

Risks of heart bypass are:

• Infection and bleeding
• Anesthesia reactions
• Fever with chest pain, irritability, and reduced appetite
• Pain
• Stroke, heart attack, or even death
• Memory loss, difficulty in concentrating or thinking clearly may occur in some people as a result of the use of the heart-lung machine.
• The heart-lung machine can also increase the risk of blood clots forming in your blood vessels. Clots can move to the brain or any other part of the body and block the flow of blood, which may cause stroke or other problems.

With rising cost of medical care, CABG in the US and UK may cost $20,000 or more. However, cheaper and quality heart bypass options are available in India, which has established top notch facilities and expert surgeons.

India some of the leading cardiologists of the world, who routinely perform heart bypass surgery with high rates of success. Opting for heart bypass surgery can be a life-changing decision, often for the better. As it is a major surgery, exercise caution in selecting the right hospital and right cardiac surgeon abroad.

Care after heart bypass surgery is very important. Mainly, all the factors that originally caused the blockages in the heart need to be kept in control. Here are some guidelines:

• Diabetics must keep blood sugar in control. Same goes for people suffering from high or low blood pressure.
• Regular light exercises, like walking for 30 minutes, needs to be done daily. However, please consult your doctor about when you can start such exercises.
• Do not smoke and keep away from smokers, as you may be subjected to passive smoking.
• Try not to get tense or stressed over anything. Listening to soothing music, yoga or meditation may help to keep you calm.
• Go slow on the calories, as you need to keep your blood lipid profile normal and your weight in check. Bad cholesterol (LDL) must be kept below 70 mg% and triglyceride closer to 100 mg%. The HDL cholesterol, which is good cholesterol, should be kept as high as possible and certainly above 40-45 mg%.
• Do not miss the post-surgery appointments with your doctor for regular medical check-up.

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is a procedure used to treat coronary artery disease in certain circumstances. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the narrowing of the coronary arteries (the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle), caused by a buildup of fatty material within the walls of the arteries.

This buildup causes the inside of the arteries to become rough and narrowed, limiting the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.

One way to treat the blocked or narrowed arteries is to bypass the blocked portion of the coronary artery with another piece of blood vessel. Blood vessels, or grafts, may be pieces of a vein that are then grafted above and below the blocked area of a coronary artery, allowing blood to flow around the obstruction. Veins are usually taken from the leg, but arteries from the chest may also be used to create a bypass graft.

One end of the graft is attached above the blockage and the other end is attached below the blockage. Thus, the blood is rerouted around, or bypasses, the blockage through the new graft to reach the heart muscle.

This bypass of the blocked coronary artery can be done by performing coronary artery bypass surgery.

Traditionally, in order to bypass the blocked coronary artery in this manner, the chest is opened in the operating room and the heart is stopped for a time so that the surgeon can perform the bypass. In order to open the chest, the breastbone (sternum) is cut in half and spread apart.

Once the heart is exposed, tubes are inserted into the heart so that the blood can be pumped through the body during the surgery by a cardiopulmonary bypass machine (heart-lung machine). The bypass machine is necessary to pump blood while the heart is stopped and kept still in order for the surgeon to perform the bypass operation.

While the traditional "open heart" procedure is still performed and often preferred in many situations, newer, less invasive techniques have been developed to bypass blocked coronary arteries.

"Off-pump" procedures, in which the heart does not have to be stopped, were developed in the 1990's. Other minimally-invasive procedures, such as key-hole surgery (performed through very small incisions) and robotic procedures (performed with the aid of a moving mechanical device), are also in development.

Because of skyrocketing costs of health care in the US, UK and Middle East some people are looking abroad for coronary bypass surgery, especially because heart bypass surgery in India which offers low cost with top-notch quality cardiac care. Heart bypass surgery is done to treat coronary artery disease – the condition in which the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart harden and thicken. But coronary artery bypass surgery is not to be taken lightly. Doctors recommend it only when lifestyle changes and medicines don’t work.

Knowing about the procedure that will be performed on you can only help you prepare mentally and physically. CABG is a major surgery and the recuperation period is fairly long. Hence, here are a few tips for you to prepare for heart bypass surgery (detailed instructions will be provided by your health professional):

• Several tests will be done before your surgery, like blood test, chest X-ray, and cardiac catheterization. These tests will help your doctors evaluate your health before and after CABG surgery and also forewarn them about anything else that may need to be treated before surgery. These tests are done either days or weeks before surgery.
• Make a list of all the medications and vitamin supplements that you take and give this to your doctor well ahead of your surgery. He/She will then tell you which can be continued and which need to discontinued until after the surgery.
• Pay bills ahead of time, because you don’t want to be running around for that after your surgery.
• Get someone to help you manage your daily needs for up to a month or so.
• Attend any scheduled appointments with your surgeon before the surgery.
• To prepare for the rare event of serious complications cropping up (including death), arrange your personal matters, like a will.
• Relax. Stress might complicate matters.

Most CABG patients have a good prognosis, provided they are committed to the cardiac rehabilitation program. You can look forward to the following benefits from heart bypass surgery:

• Improvement in quality of life and decrease in angina (chest pain) and other symptoms of CAD.
• You will be able to adopt a more active lifestyle.
• Better pumping action of the heart.
• Lower chances of a heart attack.
• Better chances of survival.