Heart Surgery In Delhi, India

After Heart surgery - Recovery time from Heart Surgery (A day-to-day description)

There has always been a widespread perception that one of the scariest parts of any surgical experience is the pain and discomfort following surgery. Well, here is the good news. Things have radically changed thanks to the adoption of advanced minimally invasive techniques in most of our open heart patients. Even the sickest, elderly and frail patients can now enjoy a fast and uneventful recovery. What follows is a description of an average timeline and routine surgical recovery following open heart surgery. Please feel free to contact to me or my secretary with any questions or comments.

Day Zero (the day of surgery)

Operation Theatre

 

Most minimally invasive procedures are performed through a tiny 2" incision between the ribs without breaking any bone. In women a tiny heart surgery scar can be often hidden in the skin fold underneath the breast. This scar becomes therefore virtually invisible over time and that is why these techniques are often described as scar-less heart surgery. At the end of the procedure a local anesthetic is injected in between the ribs and makes the surgical incision completely numb for a while.

After the surgical procedure is completed, the patient is transferred back to the ICU still sleeping and breathing through a ventilator. All monitoring lines, chest tubes and bladder catheter are kept in. Within the following six hours he/she is allowed to slowly wake up and the breathing tube is removed. We want our patients to wake up slowly and in a drowsy and stress-free state. It is good for the heart and it avoids big swings in blood pressure. Most patients overnight in the ICU and have a specialized nurse assigned to constant bedside management under the direction of the treating surgeon. Heart surgery recovery in this set up is safe and reliable.

CTVS-ICU

 

 

 

Cardiac HDU Ward

The morning after surgery most patients are very comfortable and wide awake. Not much of an appetite, maybe some occasional bloating and constipation. These are minor side effects of the anesthesia drugs that resolve uneventfully in a day or two. The chest tubes, bladder catheters and monitoring lines are removed and our patients are allowed to stand up and sit out of bed in a chair. Later on in the day they are transferred to a private room in our adjacent Step Down Unit, staffed by the same group of specialized ICU nurses. The room is spacious and has a convertible sofa that can be used if a friend or a relative wants to stay with the patient overnight.

At this point most patients can start walking up and down the corridor with family members or a physical therapist. A mild soreness at the surgical site is present and it can be easily managed with pain pills. Patients are encouraged to walk as much as they are comfortable with and to carry out deep breathing exercises to clear up their lungs.

Day Two or Three

Still pretty comfortable and wide awake. Appetite is better and stomach feels fine. It gets easier to walk up and down the corridor or to the lobby. Most patients can be discharged home or to a rehab facility in two to three days after surgery. All instructions and prescriptions are given to them and an appointment for a follow up visit is set up.

Step Down Corridor

Following one to two weeks

Cardiovascular Lobby

 

Once he/she is home or at the rehab facility, a gradual increase in physical activity is recommended. By the end of these three or four weeks most patients have resumed their routine daily activities, including driving and going out (weather permitting). Most out-of-state patients are allowed to travel back home within the first seven days after surgery (day 7). After a successful postoperative visit in our office most patients can follow up with their primary care physician and/or cardiologist.

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