The operation was carried out by surgeons at Harefield Hospital

It is believed to be the first time such an operation has been carried out in this country.

The technique was pioneered in Turkey three years ago and has been used in a number of countries since, including Germany and the United States.

Doctors say the procedure helps patients to recover more quickly and can be used on people who may not be well enough to have major open heart surgery and a general anaesthetic.

Wide awake

Doctors at the Harefield Hospital in London first used the technique on a 73-year-old man last Thursday.

John Phillipson, from Watford, was given an epidural in his spine before undergoing a single heart bypass.

I didn't feel anything. It was just like a routine operation John Phillipson 'I feel terrific after my operation'

The dosage was similar to that given to women who are about to have a Caesarean section.

The epidural blocks pain but allows the patient to continue to breath and talk normally, which means they can stay awake.

Surgeons then used keyhole surgery to repair his damaged artery.

Mr Phillipson said he was delighted with the operation.

"I didn't feel anything. It was just like a routine operation," he told the BBC.

"Right after the operation I felt terrific. Next day, I felt really good."

Consultant cardiac surgeon Mr Mohamed Amrani and his team since operated on three more patients.

Quick recovery

Mr Amrani said patients recovered quickly after undergoing the operation.

"The level of the patient's consciousness during the operation and their recovery time, have been very impressive.

Larger randomised controlled trials will be needed before epidural anaesthesia can be used in place of other established surgical procedures Alison Shaw, British Heart Foundation

"Our first patient, who was operated on in the morning, was sitting up in bed, eating and reading the newspaper by the afternoon," he said.

Patients who undergo this type of heart surgery usually remain in hospital for up to a week.

However, this technique has allowed patients to go home much sooner.

Mr Phillipson left Harefield Hospital on Saturday, just two days after undergoing surgery.

Doctors at the hospital are planning to offer other suitable heart patients the choice of staying awake during their operation.

However, the technique is unlikely to become widely available in the UK immediately because of the need to train anaesthetists to administer the epidural correctly.

The British Heart Foundation called for large scale trials to test the effectiveness of this new procedure.

Alison Shaw, a cardiac nurse at BHF, said: "This new technique, using an epidural anaesthetic, is a positive step forward for a limited number of patients needing a coronary artery bypass surgery.