Things to Remember When It Comes to Cardiac Surgeries: Following Doctor's Orders and Adopting Healthy Habits for Optimal Recovery!

What is cardiac surgery?

Cardiothoracic surgery is performed to bypass one or more damaged/blocked arteries in the heart with a blood vessel graft to restore the normal blood flow to the heart. It aims to create a new pathway and divert your blood flow around the blocked or damaged artery in the heart. Additionally, it helps improving blood flow to the heart muscles. The blood vessel graft used in the surgery is often taken from the leg, arm, or chest. It is known as coronary artery bypass grafting, and it is one of the most common types of surgery globally.

Why you need to get cardiopulmonary bypass done?

You need cardiothoracic surgery to relieve symptoms like chest pain, irregular heartbeat, and shortness of breath caused by the build-up of fatty deposits on the plaque in your coronary arteries. Coronary arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart, and these fatty deposits can also block the arteries, restricting smooth, blurred flow. 

It can also cause the formation of clots or thermal processes, which might lead to a heart attack. Coronary artery disease can occur because of a diet high in saturated fats, smoking, obesity, and uncontrolled diabetes. So, it is always good to visit the experts offering cardiopulmonary bypass.

Things you need to prepare for open heart surgery

Before the surgery

• Before you go for your open heart surgery, you need to be prepared. Heart surgery corrects the problems, while other treatments do not work or cannot be used for some reason. The most common type of heart surgery for adults would be coronary artery bypass grafting. In this procedure, arteries or veins are removed from somewhere else in your body and grafted to reroute blood around the clogged artery to supply blood to the heart muscles.

• If the heart surgery is planned and not an emergency, you will first meet with your doctor and healthcare team. You are likely be admitted to the hospital at least two to three hours before open heart surgery begins. Your cardiothoracic experts will meet you and discuss your operation. They will also welcome your queries if any.

• You might have routine tests like an ECG or a chest X-ray blood test and an in-depth class on open heart surgery. Testing usually takes around 4 hours and should be completed a week before your scheduled surgery. The hospital staff member will shave the area where the surgeon makes the incision.

• Your skin will be washed with antiseptic soap to reduce the risk of infection. You could not eat or drink anything after midnight before the surgery. Certain medications, such as aspirin, which affects blood clots, must be discontinued. Before your cardiopulmonary bypass, you would be shifted to an operating room.

During the surgery

• Once you are in the operating room, the cardiovascular surgeon will give you the anaesthesia to put you into a deep sleep, and you will feel no pain during the process and will not even remember it. Heart surgery usually takes around three to six hours, depending on your operation's complexity.

• A breathing tube is placed in your lungs through your throat, and the tube is connected to the ventilator, which will help you breathe. The cardiovascular surgeon will make the incision down the centre of your chest. They will cut the breastbone and open the rib cage to reach the heart.

• The surgeon might also remove a part of your vein from another part of your body, usually the chest or the leg, to use as the bypass graft in your heart. The heart-lung bypass machine would be connected to your heart. During the surgery, the device will take over the heart’s pumping action, moving blood away from your heart and oxygenating the blood. This allows the surgeon to operate on the heart, which is not beating.

• Once the surgery is done, the surgeon will restore the blood flow to the heart. Experts will ensure that your hearts beat normally again, and then remove the heart-lung bypass machine.

After the surgery

• After the surgery, you would be taken to the ICU, and the nurse would observe and care for you. The cardiovascular surgeon will visit you and also ensure that you have a tube in your mouth to help you breathe. Even though it will make you uncomfortable, it has to stay in until you can breathe all by yourself. You would be hooked up to all the machines to keep tabs on your heart rate, breathing, and other important signs.

So once you are home, you have to keep up with the follow-up appointments with the heart surgeon. You can also return to your regular sleeping routine as soon as possible and take a rest break in the afternoon or mid-morning. You can also exercise as the doctor advises and follow the doctor's instructions for caring for the incision. So, if you want to get heart surgery done, you should visit doctor ABCD, who specializes in heart surgery. They can give you optimum treatment depending on your ailment.