Beating heart coronary artery bypass grafting. A theatre nurse's perspective

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery has been going through a time warp. The development of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), together with continuing advances in equipment and refinement of techniques, introduced a high level of safety for CABG operations. Recently, however, with pharmacological and technological advances, surgeons have been able to 'go back in time' and undertake complex CABG surgery without CPB.