When coronary artery disease is blocking blood flow to the heart, these are the two main ways doctors fix it, though they go about it very differently. Angioplasty is the less invasive route: a balloon, usually paired with a stent, opens up the narrowed or blocked artery from the inside. Bypass surgery takes a bigger swing; it’s open-heart surgery that builds an entirely new route for blood to flow around the blockage, using a vessel borrowed from elsewhere in the body. So which one’s right? That comes down to how many arteries are blocked, how severe the blockage is, how well the heart’s functioning overall, plus age and other health factors. It’s rarely a solo decision, either; a cardiologist and a cardiac surgeon typically weigh in together to land on the treatment that actually fits the patient in front of them.