Bypass innovation ensures leg scar only 1in

A NEW surgical procedure for coronary artery bypass patients now available in a private hospital in Ireland for the first time allows veins to be taken from the leg through a small one inch cut instead of one stretching from ankle to groin.

During a coronary bypass procedure the surgeon needs to take one or more healthy vessels from patients. They are taken from the leg, arm or chest and then used to create new vessels during the heart surgery.

The traditional procedure involved removing the vein through a long incision that may stretch from ankle to groin.