Bypass Surgery
Saint Raphael’s has earned a national recognition for the quality of the coronary bypass surgery it offers. Bypass involves creation of a detour, or bypass, around blocked arteries, during open heart surgery. Sometimes a single artery is bypassed; sometimes the surgery involves multiple bypasses.
Beating heart bypass
Saint Raphael’s was one of the first hospitals in Connecticut to perform the remarkable new beating heart bypass, and has performed more of them than most hospitals in the state. During this surgery, the heart remains beating throughout the bypass surgery. This eliminates the need for a patient to be placed on a heart-lung machine, and for the heart to be restarted following surgery; both of which occur during traditional bypass surgery. There are additional benefits as well. Patients experience fewer complications, need less anesthesia, and have a significantly shorter recovery time.
Endoscopic vein harvesting
Saint Raphael’s has been a leader and pioneer in the area of endoscopic vein harvesting, which greatly reduces patient pain following surgery. Ironically, one of the worst pains many patients experience following bypass surgery does not come from the opening of their chest. Rather, it comes from the part of the leg where doctors remove the vein needed to construct the bypass.
With this new procedure, there is a tiny incision near the knee, and one near the groin, through which special instruments are inserted to remove the vein. This causes far less trauma and pain for the patient.
