Heart Bypass Surgery or Heart Transplant Surgery - Which is helpful?
The heart pumps blood to all parts of our body through the circulatory system. It supplies oxygen and nutrients to the tissues via coronary arteries. Blockage or damage in any of these arteries must be surgically treated via Heart Bypass Surgery or coronary artery bypass surgery.
Blockage in arteries can lead to a heart attack, heart failure and other cardiac issues depending on the number of arteries blocked.
Bypass surgery is primarily needed when a waxy substance called plaque builds up on the arterial wall of the heart and blocks blood and oxygen from reaching it. This leads to chest pain, irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath. Different types of bypass surgery are performed depending on the number of arteries blocked - single, double, triple or quadruple bypass.
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Heart Bypass Surgery is one of the solutions to it where small incisions are made in the middle of the chest where the rib cage is spread apart to expose the heart. The patient is then hooked to cardiopulmonary bypass machine or heart-lung machine that ensures circulation of oxygenated blood through the body while performing the surgery.
Blood vessels called grafts are removed from other parts of the body, like the leg, arm or chest, are taken so that they can go around or bypass the blocked artery. The patient will then be kept in ICU (intensive care unit) for some time.
Recovery takes around 3 to 5 days after which the patient is discharged from the hospital. Any kind of pressure or excessive physical activity must be avoided as the upper layer of the skin may heal after discharge but the breast bone will take six to eight weeks to heal. Blood stains, rashes or swelling near the incision must be reported immediately to the doctor in order to avoid any infections in future. Care must be taken while having a bath as medically approved lotions and solutions must be used.
A Heart Transplant Surgery is required in case of serious heart disease when medicine, lifestyle changes, and other procedures show no success. People in the ending stages of heart failure must opt for this surgery as the patient's heart is replaced with a donor's healthy heart.
The patient is placed on a heart-lung machine to ensure blood is circulating throughout the body. An incision is made in the chest after which the surgeon opens the chest bone and rib cage in order to operate the heart. The diseased heart is then replaced with the donor's heart and connected. The major blood vessels are then attached to it. As soon as the blood starts flowing to the donor's heart, it starts beating again. Sometimes, electric shock is needed to make the heart start beating properly again.
The patient is then be shifted to ICU where they might stay for a week or two. However, the amount of time spent in ICU and hospital may vary from patient to patient.
Regular monitoring needs to be done by the transplant team to detect any signs of rejection like shortness of breath, fever, fatigue, no urination or weight gain.
immunosuppressant’s may be prescribed to the patient to prevent the immune system from attacking the donor's heart. Some of the medicines may be consumed for the rest of the life as the immune system may not stop attacking the new organ ever.
A healthy lifestyle comprising of healthy diet and exercise must be adopted after a Heart Transplant Surgery. Emotional support must also be provided to patients to overcome the stress of having a heart transplant.
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