Innovations in heart surgery: less pain and faster recovery times

We spoke to Mr Inderpaul Birdi, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon at The Harley Street Clinic about the impact of keyhole surgery in cardiac care and what patients should consider when considering a heart procedure. 

We’re moving towards even more complex keyhole surgery with positive results

We’ve made huge progress over the years in what can be achieved through heart surgery. At HCA Healthcare UK, patients can now have multi-procedural surgeries to treat aortic and mitral valves and coronary arteries, all within one procedure – whilst avoiding the need for breastbone division.

Recently, Mr Inderpaul Birdi performed one of the first quadruple keyhole bypass surgeries in the UK at The Harley Street Clinic and the patient is now doing very well.

Keyhole surgery and its benefits to patients

Keyhole surgery has had a transformative effect on how we treat heart conditions, such as blocked arteries, valve disorders and tumours. For many patients, including those unable to undergo open surgery, the benefits have included faster recovery times, a decreased risk of infection and less post-operative pain.

It avoids the need for traditional open-heart surgery, which involves breaking open the entire breastbone to access the heart. This requires a large cut and while it’s a safe and reproducible technique, it takes roughly 12 weeks for the breastbone to heal and leaves a large scar that some patients find unsightly.

Keyhole incisions are much smaller – a mitral incision for example, is just a small cut under the right nipple for man or under the breast for women. There is no risk of the bone not healing, decreased risk of infection and little to no pain, because the cut is so small. It’s also an ideal procedure for older or frailer patients unable to undergo open surgery.

Multi-disciplinary approach: Keyhole surgery is dependent on the excellence of the whole team

Keyhole surgeries are particularly team-dependent procedures that rely on a whole group of experts working closely together. The team at The Harley Street Clinic, including the nurses, theatre practitioners and anaesthetists all have years of experience in keyhole heart surgery and do these procedures regularly, which is essential to delivering excellent outcomes. Well-equipped and well-staffed theatres and intensive care units also mean it’s an incredibly safe environment in which to perform complex cardiac interventions.

At HCA UK there is also a highly specialised and well established mitral multidisciplinary team meeting (MDT). During these MDTs general cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and keyhole specialists all work together in one room to deliver decision making for those patients undergoing keyhole surgery for mitral valve disorders.

This contributes to great decision making and combined with the skill of the team, the excellent infrastructure and the specialist equipment in place, I would struggle to do my keyhole work to this standard at any other hospital.

Early signs matter. Book an appointment to see a cardiologist now. Call 020 7616 4988

Click here to find out more on HCA UK’s cardiac care services

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