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Are there alternative treatments to coronary artery bypass?

Alternatives to bypass surgery include medication management and coronary artery stenting.

Medications such as beta blockers and nitrates can help relax the heart, thus allowing better blood flow.  Usually, however, this is not enough to restore adequate blood flow to the heart when there is a major blockage, and surgery is still the best option.

Coronary artery stenting may be utilized for a patient who has a major heart blockage but does not want, or cannot undergo surgery due to other serious medical conditions or advanced age.  A stent, which looks like a small spring, is inserted via a catheter from the groin into the heart, and is deployed to prop open the blood vessel, without requiring major bypass surgery.

What is coronary (heart) bypass surgery?

Is heart bypass surgery serious?

Is coronary bypass surgery the same as open heart surgery?

How long does coronary bypass surgery take?

Do the doctors break your ribs during bypass surgery?

How long do you stay in the hospital after coronary artery bypass surgery?

How painful is bypass surgery recovery?

What is the survival rate after bypass surgery?

* Savings estimate based on a study of more than 1 billion claims comparing self-pay (or cash pay) prices of a frequency-weighted market basket of procedures to insurer-negotiated rates for the same. Claims were collected between July 2017 and July 2019. R.Lawrence Van Horn, Arthur Laffer, Robert L.Metcalf. 2019. The Transformative Potential for Price Transparency in Healthcare: Benefits for Consumers and Providers. Health Management Policy and Innovation, Volume 4, Issue 3.

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