CABG

Medical abbreviation · Cardiology

CABG stands for Coronary artery bypass grafting, a cardiology abbreviation.

Open-heart operation that reroutes blood around blocked coronary arteries using blood vessels taken from elsewhere in the body. It is preferred over stenting for many patients with left main disease, multivessel disease with diabetes, or reduced heart function, and remains one of the most frequently performed major operations.

Example: S/p CABG x3 in 2021 (LIMA to LAD, SVG to OM1 and RCA), now with stable angina.

Usage notes

Pronounced "cabbage," and "CABG x3" means a triple bypass with three grafts. The left internal mammary (internal thoracic) artery sewn to the LAD is the preferred graft because about 90 percent remain open at 10 years; saphenous vein from the leg and radial artery from the forearm supply additional grafts. Most operations use the heart-lung machine, though off-pump surgery is an option. René Favaloro popularized saphenous vein bypass at the Cleveland Clinic in 1967.

Related abbreviations

More cardiology abbreviations

• AVRT – Atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia
• BAV – Bicuspid aortic valve
• BBB – Bundle branch block
• BiV – Biventricular
• BMS – Bare-metal stent
• BNP – B-type natriuretic peptide
• CAC – Coronary artery calcium
• CAD – Coronary artery disease
• CAS – Carotid artery stenting
• CCS – Canadian Cardiovascular Society
• CCTA – Coronary computed tomography angiography
• CCU – Coronary care unit

See all 229 cardiology abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.

This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.