The Blalock-Taussig procedure is a “closed–heart” surgery, meaning that the procedure involves structures outside the heart. As a result, the heart is not stopped during the procedure and the heart-lung machine is not used.

Instead, after the young patient has been “prepped” for surgery and has been given general anesthesia, the surgeon will make a cut in the chest (a thoracotomy) to expose the pulmonary artery and the subclavian branch of the aorta, which runs out to the arm. The surgeon will then use one of two strategies to perform the Blalock-Taussig procedure:

• The surgeon attaches the subclavian artery to an artificial tube through which the blood will be shunted. The other end of the tube is then attached to the pulmonary artery. As a result, the detour is created without dividing the subclavian artery. This is sometimes referred to as a modified Blalock Taussig shunt.
  
  
• The surgeon divides the subclavian artery then turns it down and sews it to an opening in the side of the pulmonary artery.

After the surgeon has closed the initial incision, the surgery is complete and the infant is taken to a cardiac intensive care unit for recovery.