Heart Surgery

Heart surgery is often the only way to keep your heart functioning properly, which means that it can literally save your life. In the past, the only way to have heart surgery was open heart surgery. Now, though, it’s possible for cardiologists to perform heart surgery using minimally invasive techniques.

Although there are some situations where open heart surgery is your best choice, in many cases you can get the same or a very similar procedure through minimally invasive techniques. This can reduce your discomfort, reduce infection risk, and shorten your required hospital stay after surgery.

Open Heart Surgery vs. Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery

When people think of heart surgery, they often imagine open heart surgery, which requires that the chest be open to expose the heart. However, many types of heart surgery can be performed using minimally invasive techniques.

In open heart surgery, your surgeon will make a long incision down the center of your chest. They will cut the breastbone and open your ribcage to expose the heart. In the traditional form of this surgery, medications are used to stop your heart to make it easier to operate on. While your heart is stopped, a machine will play the role of your heart and lungs. Oxygen-poor blood would leave the heart and receive oxygen while in the machine. The machine will also pump the blood throughout the body so that your organs can receive the vital resources they need.

In a variation on the procedure, your heart is not stopped. The heart keeps beating, though it’s held stable a little bit to make surgery easier.

In minimally invasive heart surgery, your rib cage is not cracked open. Instead, a small incision is made in the chest, arm or groin, depending on the procedure, your anatomy, and the surgeon’s technique. Then a small tube called a catheter is inserted to allow the surgeon to view the area. A camera and tools are inserted through the tube to perform the procedure. When the procedure is complete, the surgeon pulls the tube out and the surgical site is closed.

Benefits of Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery

Not every procedure can be performed using minimally invasive techniques. However, when procedures can be performed in a minimally invasive way, they offer several potential benefits when compared to open heart surgery, including:

• Faster recovery
• Less hospital time
• Potential for lower cost
• Less blood loss
• Reduced pain
• Lower risk of infection
• Less time spent on a ventilator
• Smaller scars

For many people, the big benefit of minimally invasive heart surgery is the faster recovery and spending less time in the hospital. People like being able to get back to their normal routine faster. In addition, spending less time in the hospital contributes to the potential for lower cost with minimally invasive heart surgery, though the cost reduction is not always significant.

With smaller incisions, people are likely to experience less blood loss, reduced pain, and have a lower risk of infection. People will also be able to reduce their time spent on a ventilator.

Finally, the smaller incisions used will mean smaller scars, although in some cases the scars might be in more visible areas like the arm.