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Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery
What is minimally invasive heart surgery?
Minimally invasive
heart surgery is a newer technique performed by surgeons operating on the
heart through a 3-4 inch incisions in the chest as opposed to traditional
open-heart surgery, which requires a full sternotomy (a 10-12 inch incision
dividing the sternal bone) to access the heart. Because the minimally
invasive approach "invades" the body less than a standard open-heart
procedure, you experience significant benefits as a result.
What
are the benefits of minimally invasive surgery?
Minimally invasive surgery performed through a significantly reduced
incision involves less trauma and blood loss. Although individual patient's
experience may vary, minimally invasive surgery has been demonstrated
scientifically to result in the following benefits:
- Lower risk of infection
- Fewer medications
- Pain and scarring
- Quicker recovery
- Shorter hospital stay
- Less risk of blood transfusions
What are the benefits of my surgeon repairing my mitral valve?
- A lower risk of death at the time of operation (1-2% for repair versus
6-8% for replacement).
- A significantly lower risk of stroke, and a lower rate of
infection.
- Improved long-term survival with mitral valve repair.
- Patients who receive a valve repair stay on the same survival
curve as the normal population.
- After mitral valve repair, blood thinners are not required, in
contrast to the life-long requirement for blood thinners after
mechanical mitral valve replacement.
Is there any increase in risk with these procedures?
There is no increased risk with minimally invasive procedures. The
operations within the heart are performed with the same techniques
used in standard heart surgery, just via smaller, less painful
incisions. You will receive the same quality surgery as is performed
through large incision approaches.
The physicians of Phoenix Cardiac Surgery perform the following
procedures using minimally invasive techniques:
- Aortic valve replacement
- Atrial septal defects
- Ascending aortic aneurysm repair
- Mitral valve repair and replacement
- Tricuspid valve repair and replacement
- Patent foramen ovale
Our surgeons have an established track record in minimally invasive
cardiac surgery and mitral valve repair. We are committed to
performing the most cutting-edge techniques such as these to benefit
our patients.
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