Cardiac Surgery 101

!±8± Cardiac Surgery 101

With over five million Americans suffering with heart disease, cardiac surgery is often inevitable. Cardiac surgery is performed in a Kankakee County Hospital by a trained cardiac surgeon on the heart and possibly its great vessels. The surgery is done to correct congenital heart disease, treat valvular heart disease and for heart transplants.

The first cardiac surgeries occurred during the 19th century. These early operations were performed on the sac surrounding the heart (pericardium). The first successful heart surgery was performed on September 7, 1896 by Dr. Ludwig Rehn of Germany. Dr. Rehn repaired a stab wound to the right ventricle of the heart without any complications. After the 20th century, cardiac surgery was performed on the great vessels as well as the heart.

By 1952, researchers discovered it was necessary to have a still, bloodless environment to effectively perform cardiac surgery. The first correction of a congenital heart defect using the hypothermia method of stopping the heart and draining the blood was performed at the University of Minnesota by Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and Dr. F. John Lewis. In 1953, the first cardiac surgery was performed by a Soviet surgeon under local anesthesia.

After these developments, open heart surgery was performed. This term means the chest is open, rather than the heart, which may or may not be. Surgeons discovered hypothermia had limits because the body and brain still need blood flow. Artificial methods using an oxygenator were explored, coining the term cardiopulmonary bypass. By the 1990s, cardiac surgeons were performing beating heart surgery, referred to as off pump bypass surgery because a cardiopulmonary bypass is not used. The heart beats during surgery but is stabilized with the hope of fewer complications after the operation.

New forms of cardiac surgery are constantly being explored in the Kankakee healthcare system. Image technology is a less invasive way to treat coronary artery disease which required open surgery in the past. The Kankakee Illinois healthcare providers insert a flexible tube into a large vein or artery so the procedure is safer and the patient is exposed to less radiation. With fewer risks and a shorter recovery time, image technology is also used to treat a wide range or medical and neuro-vascular problems.

Another new type of heart surgery is robot-assisted. A machine controlled by the surgeon performs the cardiac surgery. The incision made no longer has to be large enough for a doctor's hands. Instead, three small holes are made for the small robotic hands to enter. Typically, recover time is shorter after robot-assisted heart surgery.