What are the risks and complications of bypass graft surgery?

What are the risks and complications of bypass graft surgery?

Rose Marie Robertson, MD, FAHA, FACC, FESC (Chief Science Officer and Past President of the Board of American Heart Association) gives expert video advice on: When is a heart transplant necessary?; Is angioplasty overused to treat coronary heart disease?; Are there alternative methods for treating heart disease? and more...

The potential risks of bypass surgery can include serious risks, such as heart attacks and even death. But the risks are actually quite low in patients who don't have a lot of other complicated, complicating factors at the time that they have surgery, and in fact the risk is generally in the range of one percent or lower at institutions that do a lot of bypass surgery and have a lot of experience. One can expect to be sore, to have a sore chest after surgery, to take some weeks to recover and to heal up all the incisions, but in fact people get back to full activities, to doing all the things they did before bypass surgery once that initial healing period is over. Of course, we only suggest bypass surgery when we believe that the benefits to the patient far outway the risks. So patients who have coronary disease and need bypass surgery are patients in whom there's a substantial risk if they don't have surgery. Balancing the benefits and risks of any procedure is always an important thing to have your physician do and it's important to discuss that with your physician.