Benefits of Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery
- No splitting of the breastbone
- Dramatic reduction in pain
- Lower risk of infection
- Lower risk of bleeding
- Reduced ICU and hospital stay
- Improved postoperative pulmonary function
- Accelerated recovery/return to activity
- Improved quality of life
- 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 with minimally invasive heart surgery. 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 heart surgery dramatically improves cosmetic results. Rather than a 10-inch scar down the middle of the chest, the minimally invasive approach results in a substantially smaller, less visible incision on the side of the chest. For many women, the scar is almost unnoticeable as it may be underneath the breast.
