Cardiac Services
Cardiac Surgery
- Mississauga
Trillium Health
Centre Launches Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery
Patients undergoing
coronary bypass surgery no longer face long and painful recoveries
at Trillium Health Centre due to the introduction of minimally
invasive heart surgery.
Coronary artery
bypass operations involve the surgeon making a cut into the
chest and sawing open the breastbone to gain access to the
heart. Now, due to innovative technology introduced by Medtronic
of Canada Limited and special expertise by Trillium’s
cardiac surgeons, access to the heart is gained through a
small cut (6 cm) between the ribs, eliminating the need to
split the breastbone.
The patient benefits
of this new procedure include: much less pain during recovery,
less complications from wound healing, less chance of infection,
less blood loss due to the breaking of the breastbone, a much
faster recovery and no unsightly scars. Patients who undergo
minimally invasive cardiac surgery are discharged from hospital
within two to three days, a much shorter hospital stay than
conventional bypass surgery which requires an average seven
day hospital stay.
Trillium is already
a leader in beating heart surgery with about 80% of all coronary
bypass operations performed on a beating heart. Trillium is
now one of only three hospitals in Canada to perform minimally
invasive cardiac surgery and one of only a handful in North
America. Trillium is the only hospital to have all cardiac
surgeons performing the procedure.
“Trillium
has perfected beating heart surgery, a gentler alternative
to conventional bypass surgery where the heart is kept beating
throughout the operation,” says Dr. Gopal Bhatnagar,
Chief, Cardiac Surgery.“Minimally invasive cardiac surgery
is a natural evolution to beating heart surgery but requires
much more intense training and special expertise by cardiac
surgeons.”
In the minimally
invasive cardiac procedure called Multi Vessel Small Thoracotomy
(MVST), state-of-the-art devices are inserted through small
cuts to help stabilize and position the beating heart. The
surgeon, supported by a multi-disciplinary team, grafts an
artery or vein harvested from another part of the body, to
bypass the narrowed area. Despite the pulsation from the rest
of the heart, the surgeon is able to graft directly onto the
tiny portion of the heart that has been immobilized.
Beating Heart Surgery
Older patients and
patients considered high risk may not even be considered for
coronary bypass surgery due to the strain this type of surgery
imposes on the body.
At Trillium beating
heart surgery is providing a much gentler surgical alternative
that is appropriate for many older and sicker patients. Patients
that have undergone beating heart surgery experience less
serious complications, recuperate faster, and are less likely
to suffer an adverse event such as stroke.
Trillium Health
Centre is one of only three hospitals in the Greater Toronto
Area that offer beating heart surgery. Approximately 70% of
all coronary bypass operations performed at Trillium are done
using this procedure. That's nearly 600 beating heart surgeries
a year, the most of any hospital in Canada.
During this surgery,
a stabilization device presses the artery that is to be operated
upon, stopping that section of the heart from beating. Despite
the pulsation from the rest of the heart, the surgeon is able
to graft directly onto the tiny portion of the heart that
has been immobilized.
The benefits of
beating heart surgery over conventional surgery are numerous
and include fewer chest infections, a decrease in bleeding
and the need for blood transfusions, and a lower incidence
of irregular fast heart beats. Beating heart surgery also
offers patients a shorter hospital stay and a quicker return
to normal activities. With conventional bypass surgery there
is a 2-3% death rate associated with the operation. This statistic
is significantly reduced with beating heart surgery.
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