Arterial Bypass

What is an arterial bypass?

An arte­r­i­al bypass is graft­ing surgery of an artery or vein with­in the body. A bypass is where parts of anoth­er artery are graft­ed to the wall of the artery to relieve a block­age or weakening.

Why does an arterial bypass occur?

An arte­r­i­al bypass pro­ce­dure occurs as a result of a block­age or weak­en­ing in the artery wall. The block­age or weak­en­ing needs to be removed or the artery wall strength­ened to restore nor­mal blood flow.

Angi­na can also be expe­ri­enced as a result of block­age or weak­ene­ing in the arter­ies. Angi­na is the lack of blood flow to the heart mus­cle (myocardi­um) caus­ing dis­com­fort for the patient.

How is an arterial bypass treated?

Angi­na can be treat­ed with a pro­ce­dure where sides of an artery from anoth­er sec­tion of the body are tak­en and graft­ed to the artery. The graft allows a high­er rate of blood flow to the heart, reliev­ing the patient of angi­na discomfort.