Heart surgery types

The heart surgery needed may vary depending on the patient’s symptoms and their underlying causes. Thanks to rapid advancements in medical science, cardiac surgery is specific to different heart concerns. The most performed types of heart surgery are:

Open heart surgery:

This is the most traditional form of heart surgery and is a highly invasive procedure. In this, the chest is cut open to expose the heart and its surrounding blood vessels, after which a surgical procedure corrects the concerns through various techniques.

Heart surgery may be performed directly on the heart muscle, or on one of the arteries or valves connecting to it. This process involves connecting the patient to a heart-lung machine, which substitutes the heart during the surgery and oxygenates the blood since the heart is being operated upon and has been stopped to allow precision. Heart valve surgery and correction of congenital heart defects such as a hole in the heart walls are the most common types of open-heart surgeries.

Open heart surgery has been the reason to reduce heart disease related mortality across the world and has evolved to be a safe procedure for most patients. The fact that open heart surgery cost has gone down in recent times has also made it a more frequently performed procedure and helped make it one of the most relied-upon techniques to drive better patient outcomes.

Heart bypass surgery:

It is one of the most common types of open-heart surgeries, where a graft is needed for the coronary artery which is affected by plaque buildup or another kind of irreversible blockage. The grafted artery allows the heart to bypass the blockage while transporting blood, thus normalising its functioning. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the major indication for a bypass heart surgery, and most commonly occurs as the arteries harden over time due to fat buildup inside them. This can result in shortness of breath, heaviness or tightness felt in the chest region, chest pain or a squeezing sensation. It also often precedes a heart attack. A timely diagnosis can help the doctor recommend a bypass heart surgery as a preventative measure.

Heart transplant surgery:

This is a last resort in case of impending heart failure and is recommended only in the most severe situations. In the case of cardiomyopathy that cannot be corrected by minor procedures or by implanting a medical device, a heart transplant surgery is suggested by the doctor. It may also be recommended in case of irreparable birth defects.

This procedure requires a heart donor whose blood and tissue type match that of the recipient. Despite this, heart transplant surgery requires the use of anti-rejection drugs to ensure that the received heart is accepted by the body.

Minimally invasive cardiac surgery procedures:

They are safer and have a lower risk of complications than open heart surgeries. Another benefit is that the recovery period after a minimally invasive procedure is much less than after an open-heart surgery. A minimally invasive cardiac surgery requires the heart surgeon to make smaller incisions around the chest region, instead of opening the heart cavity completely. Today, even a coronary arterial bypass heart surgery may be performed through a minimally invasive cardiac surgery procedure, resulting in reduced trauma to the body, overall.

Paediatric heart surgery:

It refers to a heart surgery procedure that is performed on a child who may be born with a heart defect or may have developed one at some stage. Paediatric cardiac surgery is especially complex in infants, but has become safer over time, offering a high rate of success. This may involve a heart transplant surgery or a closed heart surgery (thoracotomy) which is done by making an incision between the ribs rather than cutting the chest open.

Angioplasty and stent replacement surgery:

It is performed when major arteries near the heart are clogged due to plaque buildup. A stent heart surgery involves a stent, which is a small tube with a balloon attached at one end, that is inserted into the artery. This cardiac surgery procedure is very commonly used and helps restore blood flow despite the blockage. The balloon is inflated once the stent is in place and causes the arterial wall to be pushed outward, widening the blood vessel to aid normalised blood flow. A stent replacement procedure is done to replace an existing device in case it is worn out or otherwise defective.

A heart valve may become defective due to several factors, requiring either correction or replacement. A valve replacement surgery addresses one of the four major valves near the heart, namely:

Mitral valve

Tricuspid valve

Pulmonary valve

Aortic valve

Each of these valves allows blood to flow in a single direction between chambers in the heart or into or out of the heart, preventing oxygenated and deoxygenated blood from mixing. There are two main types of heart operations involving these valves. One is annuloplasty, which is done when the ring around a valve becomes loose, and the other is valvuloplasty, which is needed when the valve flaps stiffen or fuse with each other.

Heart Surgery