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CABG is a treatment but not a cure for ischemic heart disease. It is important to work with your doctor after CABG to help you stay healthy. This may include taking medicines prescribed by your doctor, making healthy lifestyle changes, getting regular medical checkups, and participating in cardiac rehabilitation.

After CABG surgery, you will need time to recover. There are also potential complications from surgery, including arrhythmia, heart attack, and infection.

During CABG, a surgical team will take one or more blood vessels from another part of your body and connect it to the blocked artery in your heart. CABG may be performed in one of three ways. In traditional CABG, the chest is cut open and a machine pumps your blood. In “off-pump” CABG, the chest is opened, but a machine for pumping blood is not used. With minimally invasive CABG methods, only small cuts are made in the chest, and a machine is not used.

Your doctor may use diagnostic tests or procedures before CABG to determine how serious your ischemic heart disease is and where the coronary arteries are narrowed. If you need CABG, talk to your doctor about how to prepare for the procedure.

People who have certain conditions may benefit from CABG, such as those who have obstructive coronary artery disease, a type of ischemic heart disease. Obstructive coronary artery disease occurs when plaque builds up in the coronary arteries that supply the heart with oxygen-rich blood.