Heart Surgery: what do you need to know?
The heart is the most important organ in the human body to survive. Without the proper heart’s function, your whole body does not work well. Heart-related problems can be serious and can cause severe complications. These problems don’t always require surgery. According to the best surgeon in Karachi, these problems can be managed by medications, lifestyle changes, and proper diet or exercise.
However, sometimes, surgery is considered essential to address the problems such as abnormal heart rhythm, dilated major blood vessels, faulty heart valves, heart failure, or the buildup of plaque that totally or partially blocks the blood flow in a coronary artery. Usually, doctors recommend this surgery to reduce the risks of a sudden heart attack in future.
What are the benefits of heart surgery?
Heart surgery can play an important role to maintain and prolong life by:
- Regulating or correcting abnormal heart rhythms
- Shorter hospital stay
- Less need for transfusion
- Repairing, replacing or stretching a damaged heart valve
- Fewer problems with thinking skills or memory loss
- Reduce the risks of injury to the heart
- Restoring blood supply to your heart by replacing or opening blocked coronary arteries
- Lower death rate
What are the risks of heart surgery?
Heart surgeries are considered major surgeries. Most of the time, these surgeries are successful. However, they do involve some risks. The national heart institute identifies that these are some risks involved in heart surgeries:
- Strokes
- Reactions to anaesthesia
- Infection
- Bleeding
- Possible damage to tissues in the kidneys, lungs, heart, or liver
- Death (especially for those who are really sick before surgery)
What are the factors that determine the risks?
There are some factors that can determine the risks of heart surgeries:
- Chronic kidney failure
- Age (especially older than 70)
- Chronic lung disease
- Your health at the surgery time
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Poor heart muscle function
- If you are going for emergency surgery
What are the types of heart surgery?
There are several types of heart surgery. According to the National Heart Institute, the following are some types of heart surgery.
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Coronary artery bypass grafting
Coronary artery bypass grafting, also known as CABG, is the common type of heart surgery. In this surgery, the surgeon takes a healthy vein or artery from the body and connects it to supply blood to overcome the blocked coronary artery. The grafted vein then bypass the blocked portion of the coronary artery and makes a new path for blood flow to your heart muscle. Usually, this procedure is done for more than one coronary vein during the same surgery. Sometimes, coronary artery bypass grafting is also known as coronary artery bypass surgery or heart bypass.
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Maze surgery
Maze surgery is a medical procedure used to treat atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a disease in which you experience irregular or very rapid heart rhythms that can lead to blood clots in your heart. This disease can also increase the risks of heart failure, stroke, and some other heart-related complications.
A surgeon makes a pattern of scar tissue in the upper part of the heart by applying cold or heat. Sometimes, surgeons can use a scalpel to make precise incisions. Maze surgery is a complex method and can take a longer time. This surgery improves the quality of life in people experiencing atrial fibrillation and is considered essential for people who need another heart surgery such as valve repair or artery bypass.
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Ablation therapy
Ablation therapy is also known as catheter ablation. It is an effective surgical procedure that aims to correct or control several types of fast heart rhythms. This is a procedure where any area of the body that produces electrical signals that interfere with the natural pacemaker is destroyed by using a laser.
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Insertion of a cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)
Usually, medicines are the first treatment option for arrhythmia, a disease in which your heart beats too slow, too fast or with irregular rhythms. If other options do not work well for this condition, then a surgeon may implant a pacemaker under the abdomen or chest’s skin, with wires connected to the heart chambers. This device uses electrical pulses to control irregular heart rhythm when it detects heartbeat is not normal. An ICD works in a similar way, but it sends electric shock for restoring a normal rhythm.
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Heart valve replacement or repair
A surgeon either repair the damaged valve or replace it with a biological valve made from human, cow, or pig’s heart tissue. Surgeons may also replace it with an artificial valve. The first option is to insert a catheter by a large blood vessel and deflate and inflate a small balloon at the catheter to widen a narrow valve.
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Aneurysm repair
In this surgery, a weak section of the heart or artery is replaced with a patch for repairing a balloon-like bulge in the wall of the heart.
Conclusion
It is totally up to you if you want to prevent heart surgery or not? A healthy lifestyle and proper food can decrease the risks of this surgery. However, if you don’t have the second option but to go for surgery, then you need to know its benefits, risks, risk factors, and different types.