Mitral Valve replacement surgery...?

Question

anyone ever have it done? what can I expect as far as recovery time? anyone done robotic surgery for this?

Answer 1

In the US, you would be in hospital for four days, and in post-op therapy for a month or two. The incision through the chest and sternum will be wired shut and can cause considerable discomfort post op. Be prepared for this, as you will be called upon to breathe deeply and cough every four hours, this is in order to prevent fluids from gathering in your lungs causing a common post op affliction known as pnuemonia. Good luck.

Answer 2

Haven't had it done before but: It's a pretty involved procedure. Patient is put under general anesthesia and is usually on the cardiopulmonary bypass machine (heart-lung machine) since you can't really replace a heart valve if the heart is beating. mortality for full valve replacement according to wiki is 6-8 percent, prob less than 5% for young healthy patients. Recently, many people have been doing the procedure laparoscopically. Patients are put into the surgical ICU for typically 1-2 days after the surgery. You can be discharged about a week after. Obviously there's risks, this is a very involved and definitely not a simple procedure. However, the cardiothoracic surgeons do these procedures every day for their entire lives-they're very skilled and qualified. good luck!

Answer 3

Yes
Major medical centers do this.
You seem to be impressed by the "robot" called DaVinci.
The doctor not the robot is doing the operation.