Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery
Making recovery faster for patients
Heart surgery has evolved over the last few decades such that patients with common heart problems such as coronary artery disease and heart valve disorders can be treated effectively. With development of new techniques and instrumentation, heart surgeons are now able to perform various forms of heart surgery via small incisions. This not only minimizes pain and complications after surgery, it also allows faster recovery and earlier return to normal activities.
Coronary Artery Disease
Coronary artery bypass surfert(CABG) is the commonest heart operation performed in the developed world. The surgery often involves removing the long saphenous vein from the leg of the patient, the radial artery from the forearm and the internal mammary artery from the chest wall to use to bypass blockages in the blood vessels of the heart.
Endoscopic vein harvesting enables surgeons to removbe the nexxessary lenggh of vein from the legs with just a 1 inch incision above the knee and a 5mm incision at the groin and sometimes at the calf.
Valve disorders
Instead of dividing the whole sternum, isolated valve disorders can be approached through cutting only part of the sternum or a small right chest wall incision. The incision is around 6 cm. This has distinct advantages in young patients who may require repeat surgery in the future and the more elderly patients with multiple medical problems. In the latter group, smaller incision will allow better preservation of chest wall integrity and also a smoother recovery after the operation. The much smaller scar is a bonus to the patients.