Cardiac Surgery: 7 Myths And Facts You Must Know

Heart health is considered as an important aspect of person’s well being. Cardiovascular problems are very common and increases each day. This is because of consumption of unhealthy food items and sedentary lifestyle. There are plethoras of heart conditions that can make your go through a heart surgery. However due to advancement in technology and information, cardiac surgery is not that dangerous as it seems. But majority of people have many myths about heart surgery that needs to be cleared in order to raise awareness about this process and correct different types of wrong assumptions made for it. We took inputs from Dr. Harshvadhan Goyal, Cardiologist and Consultant in BNK Hospital, Lucknow.

Myths and Facts About Heart Surgery

1. Cardiac Surgery should always be last option of treatment

This is a general perception which almost all the people have about cardiac surgery. This is because surgery is considered a dangerous process which people assume needs to be done when no other option is left. In many other diseases, this might be a true theory, but not in terms of heart disease. Cardiac surgery is often done to cure the damage happened in the heart. Surgery is performed to reduce risk of complications that may occur if permanent treatment is not done. So basically heart surgery can also be a form of preventive measure to avoid heart complications.

2. Surgery is performed by taking heart out

This is a very crazy myth about heart surgery. It is absolutely false and apart from heart transplant, no heart surgery requires heart to be taken out of the body. All the other heart surgery is done by operating inside the body and the cardiac surgery is only done through a incision made where the surgery takes place. 

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3. Heart surgery can cause heart stroke or interrupt in brain functioning. 

The fact is that surgical interventions have made a drastic improvement from previous generations and technology. In today’s scenario, there are minimal risks of have any complications in such cases. Cardiac surgeries often are performed very precisely which does not affect functioning of the brain or create heart stroke. Cardiac surgery is essential in regards of patients suffering from major disorders, which if not treated could actually cause heart stroke or brain problems.

4. Cardiac Surgery is Painful

You actually do not feel anything while the cardiac surgery takes place because at that time, the person is at full sleep. Before any heart surgery, the patient is given adequate amount of anesthesia that creates numbness in the entire region while the surgery is going on. Pain can only occur, once the operation is done and the effect of anesthesia goes down. For that pain killers are given till the internal recovery takes place and person gets well.

5. Patients cannot move after a heart surgery

False, after a patient has been cured with a cardiac surgery, the physical can perform limited amount of physical activity. This restriction is only till a given time until the body recovers from the surgical process. Patients can move a bit and perform some essential functions. Apart from that doctor recommend giving the patient rest for 3-4 weeks depending on the surgery so that strain does not occur on heart. After that, the person can move as usual and follow his normal routine.

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6. Cardiac surgery is extremely risky

A big myth and concern of people that revolves around cardiac surgery is that they assume it to be very risky. Well, it could have been true before a few decades, but with advanced technology and knowledge, it is not that risky. Most of the usual heart surgeries are done with success. Common surgeries such as valve replacement surgery or bypass surgery have minimal risk now. According to the research, around 98% of people have successful heart surgery. 

7. Robotic Surgery is better

With increase in use of technology, the misconceptions have also increased. Majority of people have this belief that robotic cardiac surgery is safer or better option for surgery. However this has not yet been certified. Cardiac surgeries performed by a surgeon are extremely successful and safe. Also the capability of robot is good but it still is a machine. Therefore until we have some proper confirmation on this fact, it still remains as a myth.

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