Heart valve surgery is a procedure done to repair or replace heart valves that aren’t functioning correctly. Due to the unusual functioning of the heart valves, there can be a blood flow blockage in the body, which may prove fatal to the patient.
Heart valve surgery is a procedure done to repair or replace heart valves that aren’t functioning correctly. Due to the unusual functioning of the heart valves, there can be a blood flow blockage in the body, which may prove fatal to the patient. If a person is suffering from heart valve disease, at least one of the four heart valves keep blood flowing in the correct direction through the heart that doesn’t function properly.
These four valves include the mitral valve, tricuspid valve, pulmonary valve, and aortic valve. Each of these valves has flaps called leaflets, for the mitral and tricuspid valves, and cusps, for the aortic and pulmonary valves. These flaps open and close once during each heartbeat and sometimes the valves don’t open or close properly, disrupting the blood flow through the heart to the body.
There are two main types of heart valve:
If the patient faces any heart problems they should consult a cardiac doctor at the earliest in order to diagnose the exact heart disease. Some of the very usual symptoms of heart valve failures include:
In some cases, if patients have undergone this surgery before as well might face valve functioning problems due to blood clots, bleeding, infection, or other health issues. In such cases, the doctor might have to re-operate.
The patient will also have to get his/her hair shaved at the location of the body where the procedure will take place.
If the patient is pregnant she must immediately inform the doctor about her pregnancy
Patients who are on medications that may alter blood clotting during the surgery might need to alter their medicines for some time.
If the patient is allergic to any medications or anesthetic agents they should inform the doctor beforehand.
Also, your doctor will ask you to quit smoking at least a week before the surgery if you’re a habitual smoker.
The surgery for heart valve repair is generally performed under general anesthesia by an experienced cardiac surgeon. The following are the steps of the surgery:
After the surgery normally it takes a day 2 to get out of the intensive care unit (ICU). Then the patient is given fluids, nutrition, and medications through intravenous (IV) lines and few other tubes will drain urine from the bladder and drain fluid and blood from the heart and chest. Once the heart of the patient is stable, he/she is then shifted to the room and doctors and nurses constantly review the progress. The overall recovery period of the patient largely depends on his/her health before the operation and age. As the heart surgery takes a lot of time to heal, the patient is required to take care of the instructions given by the surgeon until he is perfectly fit. It takes about a few months for the patient to resume his/her normal routine but they are advised to be extremely careful about infections and overstressing to ensure no relapse in the surgical procedure.
Any kind of heart surgery is not easy rather it is considered to be one of the most complex and sensitive operations in our body and thus, they often come with certain risks and complications. You will be explained about the risk and complications associated with the surgery beforehand to help you make the right call. Some of the common complications include:
It is recommended to follow all the instructions and be extremely careful after the surgery and take necessary precautions in order to prevent infections after heart valve surgery. Speak to your doctor as you might need antibiotics before a dental surgery or any other invasive procedures done after this open heart surgery.
Procedure | Cost in USD | Stay in Hospital | Stay in India | Total Days |
---|---|---|---|---|
Heart Valve Replacement | 5500-7000 | 7 days | 14 days | 21 |
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