Bypass (surgical)

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In medicine, a bypass generally means an alternate or additional route for blood flow, which is created in bypass surgery, e.g. coronary artery bypass surgery by moving blood vessels or implanting synthetic tubing. Vessels frequently used for the bypass are large veins taken from the patient's leg. When and where possible, however, an artery is cut from one place and reconnected to another artery, which supplies a region that needs the blood supply more than the original site. Generally the blood flow in the receiving vessel is temporarily interrupted or reduced while the bypass is connected. To create a bypass to a critical artery, the connection can be made while blood is flowing through the receiving vessel with the ELANA operating technique.