Minimally invasive surgery

[HenryV]

Does anyone know if minimally invasive surgery through left hand side of chest is available on the NHS in the UK for triple bypass?

[ChoochSiesta]

My understanding is that if you need 3 it cannot be done minimally?

[Heather1957]

I only needed a single bypass, granted I never asked about keyhole surgery but it certainly wasn't offered.

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

Have you contacted the Society for Cardiothoracic surgeons?

They maybe able to provide you with the most upto date information.

scts.org/patients/heart.aspx

[MarmiteB]

Hey! I was told I needed a triple bypass surgery and I discussed it with my surgeon. He said that minimal can be an option but when I spoke to him about success etc, he said that open heart surgery really does give better results. So, we decided together that I would have the “open” route but my op was “off pump” which meant that they would do the op with my heart still beating and there was no need for a bypass machine. The surgery was 2.5 hours rather than the 6-8hrs it can take by being “on pump” with the use of a bypass machine and your heart being stopped. So the question is, why do you want it to be minimally invasive? So that you don’t go through such a big op or do you have other factors you haven’t mentioned?

If your worried about the scar, you actually become weirdly proud of it….!!

[Puffin1963]

minimally invasive surgery was discussed for me as the surgeon was able to do it - not all can , but he feels in future more and more will be skilled / experienced and more patients will be able to access - makes sense as a lot cheaper for nhs ! A patient had it when I was in and was out 3 days later looking quite wonderful . However if I’d chosen minimally invasive he said at least a year wait - I couldn’t risk waiting that long.

[Lynwood07]

Hi Henry Sorry to hear your going through this.

I had minimal invasive surgery for a replacement mitral valve and I had an amazing surgeon in Bristol.

He went in my right side and across unbelievable how they do this and I have such a small scar and all on the NHS, they were truly amazing from start to when I finally left hospital. My only issue now is living with warfarin and getting my bloods stable which is a losing battle as I'm at the drs weekly.

Good luck and Hope all goes smoothly for you.

[Auiron]

Robotic assisted thoracic surgery

Newcastle is one of only a few specialist centres with the expertise to offer the latest robotic and laparoscopic technology available today

newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk/...

[MountainGoat52]

I wasn't offered anything other than OHS, but even so was out in 5 days. It would have been 4 days, but my surgeon had gone off duty and they were unable to contact him to get his approval. I'm not sure what my reaction would have been had I been offered key hole as an alternative.

[Paperlover]

I don’t know about a triple bypass, but I had a minimally invasive mitral valve repair at Northern General, Sheffield on the NHS. You could give them a call.

[Chappychap]

I was told that, at least in the context of bypass surgery, the problem with minimally invasive surgery is that the release document you sign states that if the surgeon encounters problems they will abandon the minimally invasive route and switch to traditional open heart surgery. You're under anaesthetic at the time and because you've already granted permission the first you'll know is when you wake up.

I was told that the percentage of minimally invasive bypass operations that end up switching to traditional open heart surgery was astonishingly high, my recollection is 40%. I know that sounds almost incredible and I may have mis-remembered the exact figure, but the point is it's worth discussing with your surgeon in advance.

I imagine it must be a bit disconcerting to go into hospital expecting minimally invasive, but to wake up with a thumping great scar from your throat to your navel!