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Heart Valve Surgery

Day of Surgery
Diet and Medication Instructions

  • Do not eat or drink after midnight.
  • Take your normal morning medications with sips of water.
  • Any aspirin-containing products should be stopped one week before surgery.

Shower Instructions
Shower with antibacterial soap such as Dial on the day of and/or the night before surgery.

Arriving at the Hospital
The morning of your surgery, report to the Ambulatory Surgery Unit, Galter Pavilion, 675 N. St. Clair St., 5th floor. Parking is available.

Visitor Information
After you are taken to the operating room, your family should go to the Waiting Room on the 7th Floor of the Feinberg Pavilion (312) 926-2524. Laptop computers and cell phones are allowed. The usual length of the operation is about four to six hours.

What happens during and after surgery

During the Surgery
Valve surgery may be done in one of two ways. If only your valve needs repair, a minimally invasive approach is used:

  • For minimally invasive surgery, a small upper or lower chest incision (partial sternotomy) is made. The valve is either repaired or replaced.
  • If other heart surgery is required, a standard incision is made (full sternotomy). In either approach there are no sutures or staples to remove.

In both types of surgery, the heart is stopped to allow your valve to be repaired or replaced. A heart-lung machine will take over the work of your heart and lungs and keep your blood circulating and oxygenated.

Heart-Lung Bypass

Although the heart itself is not "opened", the heart-lung bypass...
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Once the work on your heart valve is completed, your heart will be re-started and you will be taken off the heart-lung machine.

Recovery
After surgery, the surgeon will meet with your family in the waiting room to give them a progress report and answer any questions they may have.

You will spend the first 24 to 48 hours in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU), (312) 926-5123. The remainder of your recovery period will be on the Surgical Telemetry Floor, located on the 16th floor of the Feinberg Pavilion, (312) 926-2350.

The usual length of hospitalization for your surgery is four to five days, depending on your surgery and your progress.

Surgery Guide

Heart Valve Surgery
Before the Surgery
Day of the Surgery
After the Surgery


Review Date: 01/05