Coronary artery bypass grafting is a surgery to treat coronary artery disease. The surgery reroutes blood around blocked arteries to improve blood flow and oxygen to the heart. The procedure involves taking, or harvesting, a vein or artery from another part of the body, typically the leg, and sewing or grafting the vessel to the coronary artery to bypass the clogged artery and restore blood flow.

Obtaining the Healthy Vein or Artery
Traditionally, the vessel is removed from the leg through a long incision that may stretch from ankle to groin. In addition to a long, visible scar, some patients who have the traditional method of vessel removal experience more postoperative pain from the leg incision than from the chest incision. Rehabilitation may also be delayed because the leg incision may make it more difficult for the patient to stand or walk after surgery.
Endoscopic vessel harvesting (EVH) offers patients a minimally-invasive alternative for obtaining the vein or artery. The vessel can be removed through one to three smaller incisions, each approximately one inch in length. During the procedure, an endoscope is connected to a video camera and inserted into the incision, providing the surgeon with the view needed to find the vessel. Next, using carbon dioxide, the surgeon creates a working tunnel in order to remove the vessel with minimal stress to the leg. This procedure is designed to reduce the surgical trauma to the patient and decrease the incidence of wound healing complications.

Benefits of Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting
EVH eliminates the long incision required to remove the vessel used in coronary artery bypass surgery. This may reduce postoperative pain, recovery time, infection rates and scarring, allowing patients to walk sooner and more easily. The pictures below show the scarring comparison between patients who underwent EVH compared to patients who underwent the traditional open method.