Deciding Between Angioplasty and Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

This chapter is an effort to create a decision process for patients and physicians to decide between open-heart bypass surgery or the less intrusive angioplasty procedure, using the AHP model.

Abstract

This chapter is an effort to create a decision process for patients and physicians to decide between open-heart bypass surgery or the less intrusive angioplasty procedure. The model was developed with "Expert Choice for Windows vs. 9.0," including pairwise comparisons of benefits, of risks and of both procedures. The overall result slightly favors angioplasty because it indicates a lower risk potential and in addition seems to be more beneficial for the patient. The results that we determined with the AHP model, support some of the research in the medical community, but not all evidence favors angioplasty.