Indications
[decided after a SYNTAX scoring system]
• Left main stem disease
• Triple-vessel disease involving proximal left anterior descending
• Patients unsuitable for angioplasty
• Failed angioplasty
• Refractory angina
Procedure
• The heart is usually stopped and blood pumped artificially by a machine outside the body, a cardiac bypass. An alternative, that does not require this, is minimally invasive thoracotomy.
• As the graft, patient’s own great saphenous vein, internal mammary artery or radial artery is used. Multiple grafts may be placed. Arterial grafts last longer but may cause donor site numbness.
After CABG
• Continue aspirin 75 mg/day indefinitely. Consider clopidogrel, if aspirin contraindicated.
• Ensure optimal management of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia.
• Counsel for smoking and alcohol cessation.
• Chart out graded physical activity through rehabilitation.
• Uncommonly, angina may persist or recur [from poor graft run-off, distal disease, new atheroma or graft occlusion]. If so, restart anti-anginal drugs and consider angioplasty.
Clinical Pearl: Recent randomised control trials indicate that early procedural mortality rates and 5-year survival rates are similar after PCI and CABG.
Thank you for reading.
- Ashish Singh.