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Learn More about Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery
by
Jordan Rocksmith
The heart is an absolutely amazing organ. This powerful muscle keeps the blood pumping through your veins, which delivers oxygen to your brain and other vital organs. Your heart doesn’t need you to tell it to keep beating and pumping, it does that all on its own. However, like any other organ in the body, the heart can develop problems. When your heart is not working properly, life can be difficult and your life can even be in danger. The world of medicine has made huge strides in the area of cardiac care. Heart surgery can now be performed in a much safer and efficient way through minimally invasive heart valve surgery. Learn more about what this means and what heart procedures are considered minimally invasive.
What Does Minimally Invasive Mean?
Minimally invasive means that the procedure affects other areas of the body as little as possible. Where in open heart surgery the entire breastbone would have to be split in what is called a sternotomy, minimally invasive heart surgery is performed through small incisions made between the ribs on the right side. As you can imagine, this can make recovery time quicker and less painful. While it might seem counter-intuitive, your heart surgeon can actually get a better view of some parts of your heart with minimally invasive surgery than he would with traditional open heart surgery. This type of surgery does still require that your heart is temporarily stopped while blood is diverted from the heart using a heart-lung machine, but the trauma to the rest of your body should be much less than in traditional heart surgery.
What Types of Procedures Can Be Minimally Invasive?
There are a lot of procedures which can be performed by minimally invasive methods. Some of the most common include the following:
Mitral valve surgery
Aortic valve surgery
Tricuspid valve surgery
Atrioventricular canal defect surgery
Atrial septal defect closure
Saphenous vein harvest for coronary bypass surgery
All of these procedures can be performed by minimally invasive methods, but not every patient is actually a candidate for minimally invasive heart surgery.You will need to consult with your doctor and see if you are a candidate. In many cases, if you have already had heart surgery performed on you, you will not be a viable candidate for minimally invasive surgery. Your doctor may wish to perform tests and review your medical history in order to determine whether this option would be appropriate for you.
Benefits of Minimally Invasive Procedures
If you are a candidate for this type of procedure, it is a good idea to learn about what benefits it can offer. There is generally less blood loss because there is less cutting involved and less trauma to the body. You will probably experience less pain and have a shorter hospital stay. You will be on your feet quicker in most instances and will have a lower risk of infection. Surgical scars will be smaller and less noticeable. Be aware that with any surgery there will be risks, and minimally invasive heart valve surgery will be no exception. There are still risks for strokes, bleeding, and wound infection. There are also risks when going under anesthesia, but these complications are rare and success rates are near 100%. Talk to your doctor for more information, and he will be able to determine whether open heart surgery or minimally invasive surgery will be more appropriate in your case. Trust that your doctor will know what is best for you. Also ask your doctor what you can do in order to keep your heart and body healthy.
NYU Cardiac and Vascular Institute
are leaders in cardiology, cardiac surgery, vascular surgery, and advanced diagnostic radiology.Visit our page on
nyulangone.org/conditions/areas-of-expertise/heart-vascular
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