What is Total Arterial Revascularization?
Coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) is a surgical procedure that involves restoring or re-establishing the flow of blood to the heart. It is performed to bypass a blocked or narrowed coronary artery (artery that supplies blood to the heart). The bypass is created by using a blood vessel removed from another part of the body and grafting it across the blockage. Multiple blockages can be treated with multiple grafts (piece of living tissue that is transplanted surgically) created by both veins and arteries. Total arterial revascularization is the use of only arterial grafts for CABG surgery.
Procedure of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
The procedure involves incising a small part of the artery from the arm (radial artery), chest (internal mammary arteries), stomach (gastroepiploic artery), or abdominal wall (inferior epigastric artery). The left internal mammary artery (LIMA) is considered the best choice for CABG (because of its high success rates) and is also considered for multiple arterial grafts. The main advantage of using the left internal mammary artery is that it remains open and does not get clogged as easily as other grafts.
Your surgeon attaches one end of the graft to the aorta (main artery in the body) with fine sutures. The other end of the graft is attached to the coronary artery below the blockage. This enables the blood to “bypass” the blockage and flow freely to the heart. The same procedure is followed for the other blockages.
