What Exactly Happens During the Heart Valve Replacement Procedure

Anybody facing a major medical procedure has questions. It’s a brilliant idea to get them answered before the procedure so that you will be informed and not quite as nervous about whatis going to occur. If you and your family & friends are comfortable, it makes the whole process a little easier. If you’re going to have heart valve replacement, you must ask your doctor for all the details about what is going to occur before, during, and following the operation so you can prepare yourself and know what can be expected.

Before your heart valve replacement, you may get hooked up to an IV, and you’ll have to remove any jewelry, glasses, dentures, contacts, and hearing aids. Fundamentally, anything that you are wearing that can be removed. The anesthesiologist and the doctor will chat to you about what is going to occur, and youwill be given a sedative.

See also : mitral valve prolapse

In the op, youwill be anesthetized. You’ll be hooked up to a heart lung machine that will take over for these organs so the doctor can perform the heart valve replacement using either a mechanical or tissue valve. In order to do this they are going to have to chop open your sternum to access your heart. Once the old valve is removed and the new one sewn in, they can unfasten you from within lung machine and start your own heart up again. Your breastbone will be wired back together and your incision will be sewn up.

When you wake up from your heart valve replacement surgery, you’ll be hooked up to all sorts of tubes and wires, including one down your throat to helpyou breath, a catheter, an IV for medication, and tubes near your heart to cut back the fluids from this area that are left over from the surgery. Once you are awake and able to breathe on your own the tube down your throat will be removed, and the others will be removed as you improve. You should expect to spend a couple days in the ICU, and then more time in a cardiac surgical floor till you are recovered enough to return home. However, even when you return home youmay still not be back to your old self. This will take approximately six to 8 weeks of gentle healing. You will continue to be on medication as well you need to take, and youwill need to visit the doctor from time to time for monitoring of your condition.