Live happily for quite long after a heart surgery

Many people are concerned about what are the do’s and don’ts  after heart surgery. After your discharge from the hospital, you should be very careful in doing even your daily routines.

 The things should not do are given below

·       During the healing period, it is advised to avoid pulling and pushing activities with your arms.

·       During bathing, showers are allowed, but bath tubs are discouraged. Avoid the usage of creams, lotions, and soap in your incision area. Avoid bathing with hot water, which may cause you to feel weak.

·       After surgery, try to avoid driving your vehicle for more than four to six hours.

·       Avoid crossing your legs while sitting and lying in bed.

·       Avoid isometrics

·       Avoid the situations and people or conversations that will make you upset or angry. These changes cause your heart to work harder.

The things to be noticed and done are given below:

·       After your discharge from the hospital, you have to check your temperature at every morning for one week. You have to inform your doctor if your temperature stays above 101 F for more than one day

·       Like your temperature, you have to check your body weight every morning for two weeks after your discharge from the hospital. Inform your doctor if there happens a sudden weight gain

·       After your heart surgery, you have to contact your doctor if you are experiencing the chest pain which was experienced prior to surgery.

·       While travelling, carry your medical records and medications with you.

·       Always remember your diet, medications and physical activities are prescribed specifically for you. So don’t compare with other heart patients.

·       There is a chance of experiencing discomfort in your incision area. Don’t hesitate to use medications for pain relief. Contact your doctor if your medications can’t relieve your pain

·       No need to worry about the swelling or lumps in the incision area since this could be disappeared by several months. Contact your doctor, if there is excessive redness, oozing, and swelling in your incision area.

·       Contact your doctor if there is an increased  shortness of breathing.

·       You have to consult the doctor if your incisions don’t appear to be healing.

MITRAL VALVE SURGERY: PROCEDURE & BENEFITS

Mitral valve replacement is an open-heart surgical procedure done for the replacement of diseased mitral valve with either a bioprosthetic heart valve or a mechanical valve. Mitral valve replacement may be required for mitral regurgitation (a leaky mitral valve), mitral stenosis (tight mitral valve), or both. The reasons for mitral valve disease are the infection, calcification, inherited collagen disease or some other cause. Before choosing prosthetic heart valve, many factors are needed to be considered since, the choice of heart valve will affect the patient's age, medical condition, preferences with medication, and lifestyle. There are two types of artificial heart valves- mechanical valves and bioprosthetic tissue valves. Mechanical valves can last  a lifetime since they are made from metal and pyrolytic carbon. But the problem for the patients with mechanical valves is that they must take blood-thinning medications to prevent blood clotting. Even though in the case of patients with biological valves (tissue valves) can avoid blood thinners, these biological valves will last only for 10 to 15 years and must be replaced due to wear and tear. Hence biological valve may not be a concern for aged patients, due to the need for reoperation.

Procedures followed during a surgery

The patient will receive a general anesthesia. The incision is often created somewhat horizontally below the left breast, or vertically through the breastbone. When the heart is exposed, cannulae are placed to reroute blood to a heart-lung machine for cardiopulmonary bypass. An incision is created within the left atrium of the heart to show the left atrioventricular valve (mitral valve). The valve is then replaced with either a biological or mechanical valve. The left atrium is then closed, and therefore, the patient weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass. After surgery patients are usually taken to a medical care unit (ICU). Mitral valve surgery can now also be performed robotically. With the development of minimally invasive techniques such as TAVR, a valve replacement can be performed without the need for open heart surgery.

Benefits of mitral valve replacement surgery

• ·        Better quality of life
• ·        Prolonged life
• ·        Reduced heart symptoms

In the case of minimally damaged valves, mitral valves can be repaired instead of replacing it. The advantages for mitral valve repair are given below

• ·        Lower surgical mortality
• ·        Lower risk of stroke
• ·        Lower rate of endocardial infection
• ·        Improved long-term survival.
• ·        After mitral valve repair, blood thinners are not required