After the Procedure:

Right after surgery, you will go to the recovery room, where nurses will watch you closely. After that you will go either to the intensive care unit (ICU) or a regular hospital room.

• After aortoiliac or aortofemoral bypass, you may need to spend 1 or 2 days in bed. You will probably be in the hospital for 4 to 7 days.
• After femoral popliteal bypass, you will spend less time or no time in the ICU.

When your doctor says it is okay, you will be allowed to get out of bed. You will slowly increase how far you can walk. When you are sitting in a chair, keep your legs raised on a stool or another chair.

Your doctor and nurse will check your pulses regularly after your surgery. Your pulse rate will show whether your new bypass graft is working well. While you are in the hospital, tell your nurse or doctor right away if the leg that had surgery feels cool, looks pale or pink, feels numb, or if you have any other new symptoms.

You will receive pain medicine if you need it.

Outlook (Prognosis):

Bypass surgery improves blood flow in the arteries for most people. You may not have symptoms anymore, even when you walk. If you still have symptoms, you should be able to walk much farther before they start.

Your results will depend on where your blockage was, the size of the blood vessel, and whether you have a blockage in your other arteries.