Heart Surgery Recovery What to Expect | Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery, Heart Surgery Recovery has radically changed thanks to the adoption of advanced minimally invasive techniques in most of our open heart patients at our Minimally Invasive and Bloodless Heart Surgery Center.

1. Heart Surgery Recovery What to Expect | Minimally Invasive Heart
Surgery
Heart Surgery Recovery What to Expect | Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery, Heart Surgery Recovery has
radically changed thanks to the adoption of advanced minimally invasive techniques in most of our open
heart patients at our Minimally Invasive and Bloodless Heart Surgery Center.
Heart Surgery Recovery - Recovery Day One
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.
Heart Surgery Recovery, 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.
Once he or she is home or at the rehab facility, a gradual increase in physical activity is recommended.
By the end of these two weeks most patients have resumed their routine daily activities, including
driving and going out.
Heart Surgery Recovery
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.
If you would like to find out if you are a candidate for Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery or if you would
like more information regarding this approach, please contact our Minimally Invasive and Bloodless
Heart Surgery Center at 330-363-1341.