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When your arteries cannot supply enough blood to your heart, your doctor may recommend coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. One of the most common heart surgeries in the United States, CABG surgery restores blood flow to your heart. Approximately every 10 minutes, someone has beating heart or "off-pump" bypass surgery1. Beating heart bypass surgery is — in simple terms — bypass surgery that is performed on your heart while it is beating. Your heart will not be stopped during surgery. You will not need a heart-lung machine. Your heart and lungs will continue to perform during your surgery. Surgeons use a tissue stabilization system to immobilize the area of the heart where they need to work. Beating heart bypass surgery is also called Off Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (OPCAB). Both OPCAB and conventional on-pump surgery restore blood flow to the heart. However, off-pump bypass surgery has proven to reduce side effects in certain types of patients.
Esophageal varices are abnormal, enlarged veins in the tube that connects the throat and stomach (esophagus). This condition occurs most often in people with serious liver diseases. Esophageal varices develop when normal blood flow to the liver is blocked by a clot or scar tissue in the liver. To go around the blockages, blood flows into smaller blood vessels that aren't designed to carry large volumes of blood. The vessels can leak blood or even rupture, causing life-threatening bleeding. A number of drugs and medical procedures can help prevent and stop bleeding from esophageal varices.
Care must be taken to prevent stenosis at the anastomotic site. If the diameter of the anastomosis is less than 2 cm, the anastomosis should be taken down and resected. A classic end-to-end anastomosis should be performed to ensure adequate diameter to the intestine. If the posterior wall of the colon has been preserved, care should be taken to close the colostomy prior to opening the peritoneal cavity. This will reduce intraperitoneal contamination from the stoma site. Copious irrigation of the wound should be made prior to primary closure. If gross contamination has occurred, delayed closure of the wound should be considered.