Things to know about heart surgery
The heart is an important organ as it pumps blood through the lungs to the whole body. It is divided into four chambers that open through the heart valves.
Many of the conditions of the heart have to be treated surgically. Any surgery of the heart is known as cardiac or cardiovascular surgery. These surgeries are performed by highly skilled cardiothoracic surgeons, in advanced hospital set-ups.
Heart surgery may be required in adults as well as children to treat heart conditions like:
Depending on the type of heart problem, health of the patient and other factors, following types of heart surgeries can be performed:
Surgeon makes a large cut in the chest to open the rib cage. Hence, the chest of the patient is opened, but not necessarily the heart. The patient is connected to an artificial heart called the heart-lung bypass machine, while the cardiothoracic surgeons correct the problem.
Some common procedures using this approach are:
Small incisions or cuts are made between the ribs through the chest for the surgery. The heart-lung bypass machine may or may not be used on discretion of surgeon. This type of heart surgery is used for procedures like:
In case of a planned surgery, the healthcare team shall advice you on the admission procedure and protocols before the surgery. Some tests may be carried out to evaluate your fitness for the surgery.
What to expect after heart surgery
With the advances in medical technology, heart surgery is known to have excellent outcomes, with almost 90% patients surviving the surgery.
Heart surgery survival rate:
Early detection of disease, surgical expertise, use of advanced technology and excellent aftercare increase the chances of survival post-surgery. Patients with heart surgery are known to have survived for as long as 15 to 30 years.
However, heart surgery, being a major surgery, carries some risks, such as:
The risk of complications may be higher for emergency surgeries or in the presence of underlying diseases like diabetes.
The kind of heart disease and the type of surgery governs the recovery time. It usually takes 6-12 months to recover fully and resume a normal lifestyle. Your healthcare team shall advice you on:
Lifestyle changes like quitting smoking, diet management, physical activity and stress management.
Heart surgery is one of the most critical surgeries. Hence, the hospital should be chosen wisely. Consider factors such as the experience of the cardiothoracic surgeon and cardiac anaesthetist, an advanced set up with infrastructure and trained team with nurses, and physiotherapists to support the pre-operative and post-operative needs of a heart surgery.
Open heart surgery Cost
The cost of surgery depends on many factors, namely:
To know more about heart surgery, you can request for a call back and our heart surgery specialist will call you and answer all your queries.
“The content of this publication has been developed by a third party content providerwho are clinicians and/or medical writers and/or experts. The information contained herein is for educational purpose only and we request you to please consult a Registered Medical Practitioner or Doctor before deciding the appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan.”