Open Heart Bypass Surgery With Video!

Open heart surgery is any surgery where the chest is opened and surgery is performed on the heart muscle, valves, arteries, or other heart structures (such as the aorta). The term "open" means that the chest is "cut" open. Open Heart Surgery. Watch a video of open heart surgery. The file is about 1751k and opens in a small pop up window.

Newer techniques allow heart surgery to be done through much smaller surgical cuts than the large cut needed for open surgery.

1. Your heart surgeon will make a 2-inch to 5-inch-long surgical cut in the chest wall. Muscles in the area will be divided so your surgeon can reach the heart. The surgeon can repair or replace a valve or perform bypass surgery.
2. During endoscopic surgery, your surgeon makes one to four small holes in your chest. Then your surgeon uses special instruments and a camera to perform the surgery.
3. During robot-assisted valve surgery, the surgeon makes two to four tiny cuts (about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch) in your chest. The surgeon uses a special computer to control robotic arms during the surgery. The surgeon sees a three-dimensional view of the surgery on the computer. This method is very precise.

You will not need to be on a heart-lung machine for these types of surgery, but your heart rate will be slowed with medicine or a mechanical device. Open-heart surgery is a procedure in which the heart is cut open to correct a defect, such as repair of heart valves.