New Coronary Artery Bypass Options.

• Position: Brief Article

Off-pump heart surgery, a relatively new method of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery that lowers traditional risks and potential complications, is increasing in usage. The technique is unique in that it allows the heart to keep beating during surgery. Traditional coronary artery bypass surgery requires stopping the heart and artificially replacing its functions with a heart-lung machine.

"While 20% of all coronary surgery in the U.S. is off-pump, 50% of the procedures that I perform are now on the beating heart," indicates Michael Dewar, a cardiothoracic surgeon and professor at the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.

Other advantages of the off-pump method include a decrease in the post-surgery stroke rate from two to three percent to one percent, fewer blood transfusions, and less medication. Patients wake up earlier and breathe on their own more quickly.

An unexpected benefit has been the fact that the off-pump method...