Coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) treats blocked heart arteries by creating new passages for blood to flow to your heart muscle. It works by taking arteries or veins from other parts of your body, referred to as grafts, and using them to reroute the blood around the clogged artery.

You may be scheduled to undergo one, two, three or more bypass grafts, depending on how many of your coronary arteries are blocked. This surgery is one of the most common and effective procedures to manage blockages of blood to the heart muscle. It improves the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart, relieves chest pain, reduces risk of heart attack and improves your capacity for physical activity.

Hundreds of bypass surgeries are performed at Royal Columbian Hospital every year, both alone and in combination with valve surgery.

Learn more about coronary artery bypass surgery.