what is the difference between angioplasty and bypass surgery?

Answer 1

BYPASS:
Heart bypass surgery creates a detour or "bypass" around the blocked part of a coronary artery to restore the blood supply to the heart muscle. The surgery is commonly called Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, or CABG (pronounced "cabbage").

After the patient is anesthetized and completely free from pain, the heart surgeon makes an incision in the middle of the chest and separates the breastbone.

Through this incision, the surgeon can see the heart and aorta (the main blood vessel leading from the heart to the rest of the body). After surgery, the breastbone will be rejoined with wire and the incision will be sewn closed.

ARTERY AND VEIN GRAFTS
If a vein from the leg, called the saphenous vein, is to be used for the bypass, an incision is made in the leg and the vein removed. The vein is located on the inside of the leg, running from the ankle to the groin. The saphenous vein normally does only about 10% of the work of circulating blood from the leg back to the heart. Therefore, it can be taken out without harming the patient or harming the leg.

It is common for the leg to swell slightly during recovery from the surgery, but this is only temporary and is treated by elevating the leg.

The internal mammary artery (IMA) can also be used as the graft. This has the advantage of staying open for many more years than the vein grafts, but there are some situations in which it cannot be used.

The left IMA, or LIMA, is an artery that runs next to the sternum on the inside of the chest wall. It can be disconnected from the chest wall without affecting the blood supply to the chest. It is commonly connected to the artery on the heart that supplies most of the muscle, the left anterior descending artery, or LAD.

Other arteries are also now being used in bypass surgery. The most common of these is the radial artery. This is one of the two arteries that supply the hand with blood. It can usually be removed from the arm without any impairment of blood supply to the hand.

ANGIOPLASTY:
Angioplasty is a medical procedure in which a balloon is used to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels of the heart (coronary arteries). It is not considered to be a type of surgery. See also cardiac catheterization and angiogram.

Description:
Arteries can become narrowed or blocked by deposits called plaque. Plaque is made up of fat and cholesterol that builds up on the inside of the artery walls. This condition is called atherosclerosis.

If the blockage is not too severe, an angioplasty procedure can be used to open the artery. Traditional angioplasty involves the use of a balloon catheter -- a small, hollow, flexible tube that has a balloon near the end of it.

Before the balloon angioplasty procedure begins, you will be given some pain medicine. Occasionally, blood thinning medicines are also given to prevent formation of a blood clot.

You will lay down on a padded table. The health care provider will make a small cut on your body, usually near the groin, and insert the catheter into an artery. You will be awake during the procedure.

The health care provider will use x-rays to look at your heart and arteries. Dye will be injected into your body to highlight blood flow through the arteries. This helps reveal any blockages in the vessels leading to the heart. The balloon catheter is moved into or near the blockage, and the balloon on the end is blown up (inflated). This opens the blocked vessel and restores proper blood flow to the heart.

In almost all cases, a device called a stent is also placed at the site of narrowing or blockage in order to keep the artery open. A common type of stent is made of self-expanding, stainless steel mesh.

In a small number of cases, a special catheter with a small, diamond tip is used to drill thru hard plaque and calcium that is causeing the blockage. This is called rotational atherectomy.

Answer 2

In angioplasty (with or without stents), a small hole is made in an artery at the top of the leg. All work is done through this hole. The patient may usually go home within 2-3 days, and complete recovery is 5-7 days.

In Bypass Surgery (CABG), the patient is taken to surgery. There are two ways to proceed:
1 The chest is opened and the sternum is cut. The patient is placed on a machine that pumps the blood for him. A vein is taken from his leg and used to create vessels (bypasses or grafts). The grafts are sutured from the patient's aorta to the heart vessel beyond the blockage.
2 The physician goes into the chest between the ribs and places the grafts that way.
The patient is in the hospital 5-7 days, and complete recovery takes 6-7 months.

Answer 3

These are two separate procedures used today by the medical profession in dealing with plaque build up in the arteries of the heart muscle. The symptons of a problem are usually angina or even a mild or in some cases severe heart attack. The first step is the patient will go for an "angiogram" where a cathoder is incerted into the artery in the groin area. The cathoder is pushed up to the heart arteries and inserted into each artery. Each time the cathoder enters the artery the Dr admits some dye into the artery where he can see on a screen how readily it passes through the artery. he can determine what percentage the artery is blocked. If there is only one or maybe two arteries severely blocked he may decide to do an angioplasy where he now inserts a tiny balloon into the cathoder into the artery. He will then expand the balloon which puts pressure on the walls of the artery to compress the plaque and clear the artery. He can then in some cases today insert what is called a "stint" which purpose is to keep the passage open in the artery. The stint is like a tiny piece of mesh tubing maybe 1 to 2 inches in length. In more severe cases of blockage or if the angioplasty is not successful after 2 attempts the Dr will then reccommend by pass surgery. This is when they will take pieces of vein from the patient and use them to pypass the blocked arteries, this is major open heart surgery. In the case of angioplasty the patient is usually in and out of the hospital the same day. With bypass surgery there is a much longer healing process.Hope this helps answer some of your queries.

Answer 4

In angioplasty they stick a tube or catheter with a ballon on the end of the tube into the coronary arteries and inflate the ballon when it is at the location where the artery is clogged or partially collapsed to open the artery again.
In bypass surgery, they use a section of vein usually removed from your leg to replace or "bypass" a clogged artery near the heart.

Answer 5

Angio Surgery

Answer 6

I'm sure that after reading the answers by other posters you are clear on the differences between angioplasty and bypass surgery. So I won't delve into that.

I thought I'd inform you about the latest trend these days. A lot of people travel overseas to get their medical treatment - angioplasty and bypass surgery included. That's because in countries like India/Thailand/Singapore/Mexico and some Central and South American countries like Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil and Argentina, they do the treatment for much less - up to 80-90% less as compared to the prevailing rates in the US. The quality offered meets US standards as they are JCI/JCAHO/ISO accredited.

A friend of mine went for her plastic surgery to India and even after adding up her travel costs and all other related expenses, she ended up saving lots. While we are here, I should also mention that she went through this one medical tourism provider called Healthbase (http://www.healthbase.com). Check it out. This company works only with quality hospitals abroad. You can research about the various medical, communicate with the surgeons overseas, plan and book your travel all at their website. You can even apply for a medical loan through their website.

Hope this helps!!

Answer 7

angio is where they go into the cardiac vasculature and inflate a balloon and 'squash' the plaque to the sides of the vessel, increasing the lumen size thus letting more blood by
bypass is where they take veins from your legs (or synthetic) and graft them onto the existing vessel to 'bypass' the obstruction

Answer 8

The bottom line is this...angioplasty may work for a short period and CABG if successfull can last ten years or more.