FOR MORE INFORMATION
about Aspirus Heart & Vascular, go
online to
aspirus.org/heart
or call
the Aspirus Information Center at
715-847-2380
or
800-847-4707
.
New minimally invasive option for heart surgery
ACCORDING
to the National
Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute,
coronary artery
bypass graft
(CABG) surgery
is the most
common type
of open-heart
surgery in the United States.
CABG surgery is used to treat people
who have severe coronary heart disease.
Now Aspirus offers a new, less invasive
option called minimally invasive heart
bypass.
“Minimally invasive heart bypass offers
many benefits to the patient not found
with traditional bypass surgery,” said
Fernando Riveron, MD, cardiothoracic
surgeon at Aspirus Heart & Vascular.
“The procedure can significantly reduce
pain for the patient and shorten the
hospital stay.”
Both procedures involve taking a
healthy artery or vein from the chest,
leg or arm and placing it to create a
new path for blood to flow to the heart
and bypass the clogged or damaged
blood vessel. The minimally invasive
bypass option, however, has significant
benefits over traditional CABG
surgery.
The traditional CABG procedure
requires surgeons to break the ribs or
breastbone, whereas the minimally
invasive option is performed through one
4-centimeter incision in the chest. Not only
does the minimally invasive bypass option
allow surgeons to perform the surgery
without having to open the patient’s chest,
but it also offers benefits, including:
w
Lower risk of infection.
w
Faster return to daily living.
Fernando
Riveron, MD
w
No broken bones and minimal
blood loss.
w
Shorter recovery with less pain.
w
Greatly reduced scarring.
w
Drive almost immediately after surgery.
Not all patients with coronary
artery disease are candidates for
minimally invasive heart bypass
surgery. To determine if a patient is a
candidate, many factors are taken into
consideration, including the quality of
the coronary artery, the patient’s size
and the number of grafts needed.
14
aspire
Fall 2014
HEART HEALTH
