Doctor Samir Dilwale of Wockhardt Heart Center,Hyderabad shares his expertise about Bypass Surgery.What does bypass surgery mean? When is it recommended for patients? What are the benefits of this operation? What are the different ways in which it can be performed? These are some common queries that came immediately to mind when one hears this term.

Bypass surgery means exactly what it says. Wherever there is an obstruction to the smooth flow of blood to the heart, heart surgeons can create a “bypass” road so as to restore the blood supply to the heart. This is exactly like building a flyover over a busy junction that is blocked due to heavy traffic. Surgeons are trained to remove (spare) arteries or veins from the patient’s own body and use them to construct bypass channels.

Bypass surgery generally is recommended for patients who have more than one block in their arteries that supply blood to the heart. Bypass is also recommended if there is a single block but it is at a critical location. In this situation, balloon angioplasty/stent placement is not possible or is considered risky. Bypass surgery is strongly recommended for diabetic patients with one or more blocks in view of its superior long term results.

The greatest benefit of the bypass operation is that it eliminates the risk of having a sudden major heart attack in patients suffering from blocked circulation to their hearts . Therefore, this is a life-saving operation. The other major benefit is that a patient’s quality of life improves dramatically after the operation as he/she no longer suffers from chest pain. The patient is free to pursue an active lifestyle without the constant worry and anxiety associated with heart disease. Moreover, the beneficial effects of this operation lasts for 15 to 20 years if due care is taken.

Bypass surgery is conventionally carried out using a heart-lung machine and the heart is stopped for the duration of the operation. This is a very safe and standard technique and millions of patients have undergone the operation in this manner. The operation is also done on a beating heart which is a more recent technique and has certain advantages over the traditional method, especially in patients suffering from lung or kidney disease and patients who are at risk of having a stroke (paralytic attack).

Wockhardt Heart Center offers both the above techniques of bypass surgery. Great care is taken to assess the profile of each patient so as to select the most appropriate technique. This approach has resulted in outstanding success rate for bypass surgery, that is at par with the best hospitals in the world. Our focus is to offer all our patients an active, long and healthy life.

About Wockhardt Hospitals:The Wockhardt Hospitals group has an exclusive association in India with Harvard Medical International(HMI) and is a treatment destination for patients from US, UK and other European Countries besides South Asia, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa. Wockhardt Hospitals Bangalore and Mumbai have received the highly coveted accreditation from Joint Commission International (JCI), USA. It puts Wockhardt Hospitals on a par with international centers of medical excellence. The certification is a reflection of Wockhardt Hospital's commitment to stringent quality standards

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