CABG

1. What is Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting?

The coronary arteries supply blood to the heart muscle. CABG uses healthy blood vessels from another part of the body to create new routes around blocked or severely narrowed coronary arteries.

2. When is it Recommended?

It may be recommended for significant coronary artery disease, particularly multiple blocked arteries, left main coronary artery disease, complex blockages, or disease in patients with diabetes or reduced heart function, when surgery is considered the appropriate revascularisation strategy.

3. What Symptoms May a Patient Notice?

Common symptoms may include chest pain or pressure, breathlessness, unusual tiredness, sweating, reduced exercise capacity or pain spreading to the arm, shoulder, neck or jaw. Some patients may have no symptoms.

4. What Does the Treatment Involve?

The surgeon takes healthy blood vessels, commonly from the chest, arm or leg, and connects them to the coronary arteries beyond the blockages, creating new routes for blood to reach the heart muscle.

5. What Are the Main Treatment Options?

CABG may be performed using a heart-lung machine or without it (off-pump CABG). Depending on the patient's anatomy and surgical assessment, conventional, minimally invasive or robotic-assisted approaches may also be considered.

6. How Long Does Treatment & Recovery Take?

Hospitalisation after CABG is commonly around 5–10 days, although complex cases may require longer. A PubMed-indexed Indian study reported an average hospital stay of 5.84 days for selected patients undergoing robotic-assisted CABG. Recovery at home generally continues for 6–12 weeks.

7. What Are the Important Risks or Considerations?

CABG has established outcomes, with risk depending on age, diabetes, kidney function, heart function and urgency of surgery. A large Society of Thoracic Surgeons database study reported 1.87% operative mortality for isolated CABG, while individual risk can be substantially different depending on patient characteristics.

8. Why Consider Treatment in India?

India has specialised cardiac centres performing high volumes of CABG and complex coronary procedures. Research involving more than 3.4 million CABG patients found that higher annual hospital and surgeon procedure volumes were associated with favourable mortality outcomes, making centre and surgeon experience important considerations when selecting treatment.

9. How Can Medavelle Help?

Medavelle can assist with medical report review, cardiologist and cardiac surgeon coordination, hospital selection, treatment planning, international patient arrangements and follow-up coordination.

10. What Should the Patient Do Next?

Share your cardiac reports → Cardiologist evaluation → Coronary artery assessment → Treatment recommendation → Treatment planning in India.