One-month results from a major clinical trial indicate that beating-heart, or off-pump bypass surgery is as safe and effective as standard coronary bypass surgeries, researchers report.
Read the full story
October 10, 2001
By Howard LeWine, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
How does this article relate to me?
This article describes what is becoming a more commonly used procedure in heart surgery. Rather than having every patient put on a heart-lung bypass machine to maintain circulation, some patients are able to have the operation on a beating heart. Does this mean that this is a better technique and everyone should have it? The answer is clearly no.
In fact, the rate of complications was the same in the patients that had beating heart surgery and the patients who went on the pump. And most heart surgeons have much more experience doing surgery on a heart that is not beating.
What changes do I need to make?
When you are scheduled for any surgery and are wondering if the newest advance in technique is right for you, here is my suggested approach: Ask the physician who referred you to the surgeon what he or she thinks about the new technique. You will get some insight into whether this new way of performing the surgery is ready for prime time, and you also may be informed of the surgeon's experience doing it.
Next, discuss it with the surgeon. Unless a new technique has been shown unequivocally to be better than the old way of doing the surgery, don't push for it. Even the technique of removing the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) through a laparoscope is not best for everyone. For me, what is most important is the surgeon's comfort with the technique.
What can I expect in the future?
Surgical techniques that decrease recovery time and pain have marked this past decade, and we can expect more in the future. In heart surgery, more patients will be considered good candidates for small incisions, and then surgery on a beating heart will be come more widespread.
Related areas:
Heart Area
