Bypass injury: implications of cardiopulmonary bypass

Despite significant advances made in cardiac surgery over the last 2 decades, the process of bypassing the heart and lungs or cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) continues to precipitate physiologic insults that have an impact on a patient's ability to recover from open-heart surgery. This article explores some of these potential insults and reviews some of the interventions used to neutralize the impact of CPB.