Your chest, groin, and leg hair will be shaved to help prevent infection. In the OR, you will see the professionals you've met as well as other members of the surgical team, including the perfusionist. Your blood pressure, temperature and respiration will be closely monitored, as well. Before the surgery begins, the surgical team will clean and drape you and prepare a sterile environment. Then a surgeon will begin the operation by making an incision in your chest, and then dividing and separating apart your breastbone.
Ice water is placed on the heart to cool it down.
Tubes are then attached to the heart and connected to the heart lung machine. Blood will travel from the upper chambers of your heart, to the machine and then throughout your body. Then they remove the bypass vessel and attach it to the blocked coronary artery. They do this by sewing the graft vessel to the coronary artery beyond the blockage. If they are using the saphenous vein, they will sew one end to the coronary artery, and one end to the aorta.