Closed heart surgery

Closed heart surgeries are usually performed on the major arteries of the heart while the heart continues to pump.

Operations that require more complicated work on internal areas such as valves or septa of the heart require open heart surgery. These procedures are often more technically complicated and require the use of a heart-bypass lung machine which supports the body’s vital organs while the intra-cardiac repair work is being done.

Heart Surgery may be required to fix the problem with the functioning of the heart. Closed heart surgery does not require patients to be supported by a heart-lung bypass machine and the heart chambers are opened during the procedure. Some repairs are best performed using closed heart surgery. in few instances closed heart surgery is the first stage of repair for a defect that requires multiple surgeries. Closed heart surgeries involve entry into the chest from the front (sternotomy) or from the side between the ribs (thoracotomy). Many forms of closed heart surgeries deal with the major arteries that carry blood to and from the heart rather than with the heart chambers themselves. Some closed heart surgeries are palliative (or temporary) rather than corrective, meaning that they deal with specific problems caused by a heart defect rather than correction of the defect itself. Palliative surgery is often performed on young children who have heart defects that require staged surgeries. These surgeries are performed under the general anaesthesia. Post-operative care of the patient involves careful monitoring in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Advantages: In this procedure the cardiac problems are fixed without the use of heart-lung bypass support and involve a shorter hospitalisation and recovery time.