Minimally invasive heart surgery

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Anterior heart arteries	Coronary artery stent	Heart, front view	Heart bypass surgery - series
Posterior heart arteries

Minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass; MIDCAB; Off-pump coronary artery bypass; OPCAB; Beating heart surgery; Robot assisted coronary artery bypass; RACAB; Keyhole heart surgery

Performing surgery on a beating heart (for both MIDCAB and OPCAB procedures) is technically more difficult than working on a heart that has been stopped with the help of the heart-lung machine. In addition, the stress on the heart during the procedure may lead to more heart muscle damage, lower blood pressure, irregular heart beat and potentially, brain injury if blood flow to the brain is reduced for too long during surgery. In some cases (usually less than 10%), it is necessary to convert to conventional CABG methods on an emergency basis.

Review Date: 05/30/2006
Reviewed By: J.A. Lee, M.D., Division of Surgery, UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.