Potential Benefits of Minimally Invasive CABG Surgery

Recent advancements in equipment & surgical techniques allow cardiac surgeons to perform coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery in a lesser traumatic way. These types of surgical interventions are known as ‘minimally invasive’ procedures. MICS or minimally invasive cardiac surgery typically includes smaller incisions in order to avoid the support of the heart lung machine, or both. The cardiac surgeon may determine if minimally invasive bypass surgery is appropriate for select patients. Minimally invasive cardiac surgery procedures are most often performed through smaller incisions & on a beating heart as well. Moreover, pioneering work is also done on cardiac surgery procedures throughout the world in order to develop technique which can allow cardiac surgeons space to perform beating heart bypass procedures through smaller keyhole incisions.

Incisions for CABG – Coronary Artery Bypass Graft

Unlike conventional open-heart CABG surgery which involves a 10” to 12” invasion alongside placing the patient on a heart-lung machine, this newly designed minimally invasive CABG surgery procedure avoids placing the patient on a heart-lung machine. Moreover, it can also be performed through a 3” to 5” incision placed in-between the ribs or may alternatively be done through several small incisions. Endoscopic or keyhole coronary bypass procedures are nevertheless still in development stages, but are generally performed through smaller incisions which measure only 1” to 2” wide.

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting or CABG Surgery

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting or CABG Surgery or Bypass Surgery is a safe & very effective surgical intervention which is meant to treat signs & symptoms of coronary artery disease. This CABG procedure reroutes blood around the blockage site in the blood vessel of the heart by creating an alternative pathway for delivering blood & important nutrients including oxygen to the heart muscles. Grafts used in the operation are harvested from portions of other arteries or veins from areas of the patient’s body. Most commonly used graft blood vessels in CABG surgery come from the internal mammary arteries which are located inside the chest wall, or from the greater saphenous veins located in the leg region. These blood vessels normally serve as ‘spares’ & blood flow within this region will usually not be affected by their removal. Radial artery in the arm also sometimes serves as graft. These grafts are normally found to last for a period of 10 – 12 years following CABG procedures.

Potential Benefits of Minimally Invasive Heart Bypass Surgery

Minimally invasive CABG surgery is found to provide the same beneficial results as the conventional CABG procedure does. It effectively restores adequate flow of blood along with normal delivery of nutrients & oxygen to the heart. However, minimally invasive CABG procedure gives us an added advantage which enables the cardiac surgeon to operate on a beating heart procedure through smaller incisions.

• Shorter Length of Stay at the Hospital – Heart patients usually experience lesser pain & may retain better ability to deeply breathe & cough after surgery. This is why MICS patients are often discharged from hospital within 2 – 3 days when compared to the typical 5 – 10 days of stay required after conventional CABG procedure.
• Faster Recovery Time – Avoidance of heart-lung machine along with use of smaller incisions often reduces risks of complications like renal failure & stroke so that MICS patients can return to normal activities within 2 weeks of time rather than 6 – 8 weeks which is typically taken following conventional CABG surgery.
• Less Bleeding & Blood Trauma – Whenever, blood is removed from the patients’ body & put into the heart-lung machine apparatus, the patient is required to be given anti-clotting medications or other ‘blood products’. Artificial circuits like the heart-lung machine are also found to damage blood cells. Factors like these are also found to affect the ability of blood to clot post surgery. Therefore, avoiding use of heart-lung machine can definitely alleviate blood trauma.
• Lower Rate of Infection – Smaller incisions usually mean lesser exposure & handling of tissue. This may effectively reduce chances of contacting infection.
• Availability to More Patients – There are some heart patients who are poor candidates for traditional CABG surgery since their heart is too weak, or the illness is too widespread or because they cannot accept blood products. Therefore in such cases, some CABG surgery patients may be able to receive life-saving surgery through minimally invasive CABG surgery techniques.
• Lower Cost of CABG Surgery – Cost of minimally invasive CABG surgery procedures is approximately 25 percent lesser than cost of conventional CABG surgery.

How is MICS performed on a Beating Heart?

One of the biggest challenges during minimally invasive CABG surgery is the difficulty in suturing on a beating heart. A stabilizing system is therefore used for steadying the portion of the heart in case the cardiac surgeon chooses to operate upon a beating heart. Stabilizing system helps the cardiac surgeon avoid using the heart-lung machine by making it possible for him to operate upon the patient’s heart while it continues to pump.

Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery in India

Coronary artery bypass grafting cost in India are just a fraction of what it would cost a patient to pay for in advanced countries like UK, Germany, Canada & United States. Coronary artery bypass graft surgery in India is recognized to be one of the best CABG procedures in the world. Cardiac surgeons in India are recognized to be some of the best heart specialists in the world & have performed thousands of successful outcomes in the past to achieve the status they hold today. IndianMedTrip is a globally reputed one-stop healthcare tourism company which is associated with the top cardiac surgeons & best accredited hospital facilities in the country so as to provide effective & affordable medical procedures to people from all around the world. Their services are seamless & hassle-free & are designed to provide a satisfying medical experience to international patients.

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