What Does Minimally Invasive Mean in
Heart Bypass Surgery?
 With some surgical procedures, minimally invasive is very obvious, such as in endoscopic vein harvesting the incision size is smaller, and reduced complications may be implied with decreased wound size. It is an "obvious" observation. You can see the difference between a long incision and a few small incisions.
 Taking a look at coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and the term "minimally invasive" you might think the term is not so obvious. For the most part, you still wind up with a mid-sternal (middle of the chest) incision. What's so "minimally invasive" about heart surgery? Minimally invasive in terms of coronary artery bypass surgery refers to a surgery performed "off-pump" or while the heart continues to beat.
Most people are surprised to learn that in "traditional" bypass surgery, surgeons use the assistance of the heart-lung machine along with medications to stop the heart so the bypass can be performed on a motionless field.
The heart-lung machine is referred to as a "pump" because it continues to mechanically pump oxygen and nutrients to the body during surgery. While the heart-lung machine allows doctors to perform surgery on the heart, it can be invasive and a potentially traumatic procedure. Complications from the heart-lung machine may include increased need for blood transfusion, kidney and lung complications, stroke and longer hospital stay (1). Although effective, this standard form of surgery is recognized as invasive and traumatic.
In recent years, cardiac surgeons have explored less invasive alternatives to traditional bypass procedures. One such method is known as off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) or beating heart surgery.
Reference 1: Benetti FJ, Mariani MA. Off-Pump Coronary Bypass Surgery. Surgical Technology International;
VII: 1-8.
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