Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery (CABG)

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Recovering from CABG Surgery

What is the recovery process like?
Most patients spend 1 to 2 days in the intensive care unit and a total of 4 to 7 days in the hospital before going home to recover. After 3 to 4 weeks patients are usually allowed to drive. For the first 6 weeks, while the breastbone is healing, there are restrictions on heavy lifting. Full recovery may take a few months.

How should someone who has had a successful surgery feel?
Initially, there may be soreness around the incision, but far less than patients expect. Most will soon notice no more chest pain or shortness of breath. “It is something that is dramatic,” especially for patients who had many symptoms before surgery, Corso says. Be aware of possible depression—more so in men than women, he says. It usually does not require medication, but works itself out as the patient recovers.

What are the risks?
It depends on the health of the patient going into the surgery. Overall, the survival rate is 98 to 99 percent. There is a 1 percent risk of stroke and a 1 percent risk of heart attack. If the patient is older or the surgery is done as an emergency, the risks are higher.

What is involved in rehab?
Patients are usually sent home for a few weeks with orders to slowly ease into an exercise program, eat right, and take a daily aspirin and sometimes cholesterol-lowering drugs. Within a few weeks, the patient should be walking about 25 to 30 minutes at a time and building endurance.

What can a patient do to increase the odds that bypass surgery will be a success?
“People need to live a healthy life, which they had not been living,” Corso says. This means no smoking, more exercise, a healthy diet, and often taking medication. “It comes down to a lifestyle change. If you go through surgery and don’t make changes, then you are asking for a recurrence and less success,” he says.