Benefits of Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery
- Dramatic reduction in pain
- Accelerated recovery/return to walking and activity
- Reduced ICU and hospital stay
- Improved postoperative pulmonary function
- Improved quality of life
- Reduced need for inpatient cardiac rehabilitation
- Greatly improved cosmetic results
Eliminating the need for median sternotomy greatly reduces the trauma and pain associated with open-chest surgery and improves quality of life for patients. In the hospital, reduced post-operative discomfort enables patients to more quickly begin a much shorter recovery process. Most patients ambulate more easily and participate more actively in their personal care. Currently, NYU patients are comfortably managed on a four-day care map. Additionally, this approach lowers risk of complications such as bleeding and infection. Upon returning home, many patients resume their normal lives in much less time after minimally invasive cardiac surgery. They require minimal assistance and report needing little or no pain medication. Often, they begin cardiac rehabilitation sooner and consistently maintain their regimen. In as little as two weeks, patients have resumed day-to-day activities and even returned to their jobs.
Minimally invasive cardiac surgery dramatically improves cosmetic results. Rather than a 10-inch scar down the middle of the chest, the new surgery results in a substantially smaller, less visible keyhole incision on the side of the chest. For many women, the scar is almost unnoticeable as it may be underneath the breast.