Like various other major surgeries a number of risk and complications are involved in coronary artery bypass graft surgery. These the severity of these risks and complications depend on various factors which are being discussed in the article.

Age of the patient:

The risk of complications after CABG surgery increases with the increase of age of the patient. There are 1 in 500 chances of experiencing complications after this surgery among the people of age group of 60s but the chances increase to 1 in one hundred for the persona of 80 years age group.

Other serious health problems since long:

Some long term problem like kidney failure or diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease etc. can increase the risk of complications after CABG surgery.

Among female patients:

Though the reason is not clear till now but females are more at risk of complications after this type of heart surgery. In case of emergency surgery to treat a heart attack: The risk of complications becomes higher if the surgery has to be done without planning to secure the heart from being damaged due to heart attack.


Need of grafting three or more arteries:

The chances of complications increase with the complexity of the surgery.

In case of obese patients:

Deeper incisions have to be made to obese patients who increase the chances of complications due to surgery like excessive bleeding and infections.

So the risk of complications after coronary artery bypass graft surgery can increase from 1in 500 to 1in 4 depending on the risk factors stated above. You should consult a competent doctor to get detailed information in this regard before going to have this type of surgery.

Types of complications usually expected after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

  1. Infection: Infection may develop deep inside the incisions made in the breastbone which is known as mediastinitis in medical terms. This infection occurs in about 1-4% patients having this type of heart surgery. About 14$ of patients also have infection in their arms or legs from where the blood vessel is removed to be used as graft. These infections can be treated with antibiotic injections and 1in 4 patients die from them.
  2. Disorder in kidney functioning: Approximately 8% of CABG surgery patients experience the complication of loss if kidney functioning after surgery. In most of such cases people recover to normal condition after few weeks but 1 in 5 may need dialysis due to permanent disorder in kidney functioning.
  3. Heart attack: The vulnerable state of both the heart and the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart can create the situation complicated especially upto one month after surgery. Upto 7% patients are reported to have heart attacks after CABG.
  4. Brain complications: Almost 6% of coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients are estimated to experience brain related complications after surgery. Most of these may have complications of mild nature including los of memory or loss of efficiency of intellectual functioning which may be recovered after some time. But some of them may have serious complications like brain hemorrhage, strokes or coma which are most of the times irrecoverable.
Coronary Artery

What Are Risks after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery


Like various other major surgeries a number of risk and complications are involved in coronary artery bypass graft surgery. These the severity of these risks and complications depend on various factors which are being discussed in the article.

Age of the patient:

The risk of complications after CABG surgery increases with the increase of age of the patient. There are 1 in 500 chances of experiencing complications after this surgery among the people of age group of 60s but the chances increase to 1 in one hundred for the persona of 80 years age group.

Other serious health problems since long:

Some long term problem like kidney failure or diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease etc. can increase the risk of complications after CABG surgery.

Among female patients:

Though the reason is not clear till now but females are more at risk of complications after this type of heart surgery. In case of emergency surgery to treat a heart attack: The risk of complications becomes higher if the surgery has to be done without planning to secure the heart from being damaged due to heart attack.


Need of grafting three or more arteries:

The chances of complications increase with the complexity of the surgery.

In case of obese patients:

Deeper incisions have to be made to obese patients who increase the chances of complications due to surgery like excessive bleeding and infections.

So the risk of complications after coronary artery bypass graft surgery can increase from 1in 500 to 1in 4 depending on the risk factors stated above. You should consult a competent doctor to get detailed information in this regard before going to have this type of surgery.

Types of complications usually expected after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

  1. Infection: Infection may develop deep inside the incisions made in the breastbone which is known as mediastinitis in medical terms. This infection occurs in about 1-4% patients having this type of heart surgery. About 14$ of patients also have infection in their arms or legs from where the blood vessel is removed to be used as graft. These infections can be treated with antibiotic injections and 1in 4 patients die from them.
  2. Disorder in kidney functioning: Approximately 8% of CABG surgery patients experience the complication of loss if kidney functioning after surgery. In most of such cases people recover to normal condition after few weeks but 1 in 5 may need dialysis due to permanent disorder in kidney functioning.
  3. Heart attack: The vulnerable state of both the heart and the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart can create the situation complicated especially upto one month after surgery. Upto 7% patients are reported to have heart attacks after CABG.
  4. Brain complications: Almost 6% of coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients are estimated to experience brain related complications after surgery. Most of these may have complications of mild nature including los of memory or loss of efficiency of intellectual functioning which may be recovered after some time. But some of them may have serious complications like brain hemorrhage, strokes or coma which are most of the times irrecoverable.