What are Heart Surgeries?

Heart Surgeries or Cardiovascular surgeries are surgery on the heart of great vessels. Cardiac surgeons perform these surgeries to treat complications of ischemic heart disease, congenital heart disease or valvular heart disease. Heart transplantation also comes under heart surgery.

Done on both adults and children, heart surgeries are done on different issues and complications in the heart. These surgeries help treat damaged or abnormal structures in the heart. They are also used in repairing and replacement of valves controlling blood flow direction in the heart.  

Heart surgeries are also done when replacement is sought for a damaged heart with a healthy heart. More so, these surgeries are preferred in cases where the implantation of medical devices becomes necessary for controlling the heartbeat or supporting heart function and blood flow.

Types of Heart Surgeries

Heart surgeries are of many types and depend upon the health conditions of the patients, like:-

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: – It’s the most common type and is used for patients with severe coronary heart disease (CHD)

Transmyocardial Laser Revascularization: – This surgery is used by surgeons to treat angina once all other treatments have failed.  

Heart Valve Repair or Replacement: – This kind of surgery is done to make the heart work well and its blood flow as per the design. 

Arrhythmia Treatment: – This surgery is used to treat the problem of the heart being troubled by the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. 

Aneurysm Repair:- This surgery is done to treat the abnormal bulge, called an aneurysm, in the wall of an artery or the heart muscle.

Ventricular Assist Devices: – This surgery is done for people with weakened hearts as here mechanical pumps are used in this to boost blood flow and heart function. 

Heart Transplant: – This surgery sees the removal of a diseased heart and its replacement with one from the donor.

Surgical Approaches: – Patients are treated using either open-heart surgery, off-pump heart surgery, or minimally invasive heart surgery.

Signs and symptoms to use Heart Surgeries

Heart problems can be varying in nature and hence, signs and symptoms may vary. In general, there are some common signs people should not ignore, including:

• Chest pain, whether mild or severe
• The feeling of tightness or heaviness in the heart
• Uncomfortable feeling in the chest
• Shortness of breath 
• Palpitations 
• Weakness or dizziness 
• Chest discomfort
• Faster heartbeat or tachycardia
• A feeling of dizziness, nausea, or extreme weakness

Heart surgeries treatment or procedures

General heart surgery may take 4 to 6 hours. First of all, the patient is kept on a dose of general anesthesia. Afterward, she surgeon starts the surgery by making a cut or incision in the heart, ranging from six to 10-inch.

The surgeon has to expose the heart so he cuts through part of the breastbone of the patient. If need be, the patient is connected to a heart-lung bypass machine.  

Once the heart is open, the surgeon proceeds ahead and does the operation as per the heart problem the patient faces. Upon the completion of the surgery, the breastbone is sewn with wire and the cut is stitched up.