Coronary artery bypass surgery, also coronary artery bypass graft (CABG, pronounced “cabbage”) surgery, and colloquially heart bypass or bypass surgery is a surgical procedure performed to relieve angina and reduce the risk of death from coronary artery disease. Arteries or veins from elsewhere in the patient’s body are grafted to the coronary arteries to bypass atherosclerotic narrowings and improve the blood supply to the coronary circulation supplying the myocardium (heart muscle).
This surgery was performed with the heart stopped, necessiating the usage of cardiopulmonary bypass and heart lung machine, but now this surgery is performed on a beating heart so called “Off Pump” surgery