Heart bypass surgery or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is commonly known as open-heart surgery. Typically, people with coronary artery disease in which vessels of the heart are blocked with hard build-up, called plaque, require heart bypass surgery when they do not respond to medical management or when the vessels are severely occluded. According to the American Heart Association, a healthy blood vessel is harvested from another part of the body and is attached to the heart vessels around the area of blockage, thereby creating a bypass to allow unobstructed blood flow and prevent a heart attack.
Sternal Wound Infection
According to Medline Plus, a service of the National Institutes of Health, after anesthesia induces unconsciousness, a heart surgeon makes an approximately 10-inch incision in the sternum, down the middle of the chest. Then the breastbones become separated, allowing the surgeon visualization and access to the heart. Following surgery, wires reconnect the breastbones and the sternum is sewn back together. Infection of the sternal incision is a possible complication of heart surgery. Signs of infection include fever, redness, swelling and/or drainage from the incision site. Medline Plus also states people who have previously undergone this procedure and well as those who have diabetes or are obese are at greater risk for this complication.
Breathing Problems
During surgery, an endotracheal tube is inserted through the trachea toward the lungs to allow the breathing machine to sustain respiration because anesthesia depresses the lung muscles. Following surgery, some people have trouble taking deep breaths and clearing out secretions that have built up in the lungs. This can cause difficulty breathing from not getting adequate oxygen in the body, as well as possibly leading to atelectasis, or collapsed lung. Sternal incisions may cause pain with coughing and deep breathing. Nevertheless, the incision should be splinted so these actions can be performed in order to avoid respiratory complications.
Prolonged immobility can give rise to blood clots in the lower extremities. If these blood clots break off at the site of origin, they can travel through the bloodstream and obstruct the small vessels in the lungs, according to Medline Plus. Also called pulmonary embolism, this condition causes difficulty breathing and chest pain.
Other Complications
According to the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, complications can be attributed to the use of a cardiopulmonary, or heart-lung, machine, which does the heart's work while it is not beating during surgery. These complications include stroke, seizures, multiple organ dysfunction and infections due to a weakened immune system. Medline Plus states that heart attack and heart rhythm problems are possible risks of the surgery as well. Heart attack can result from an unsuccessful CABG in the event of failure of the grafted vessel, which is a medical emergency that requires re-operation. Chest pain and low-grade fever can follow up to six months post-surgery, a complication called post-pericardiotomy syndrome, according to Medline Plus. Other possible complications include blood loss and memory problems.
