Heart Surgery

Become familiar with what you may experience on the day of your heart surgery.

This American Heart Association video features helpful tips from others who have successfully recovered from heart surgery, including how to plan and prepare for your surgery.

Doctors do successful heart surgery every day. But it's normal to be concerned if you're having operation. Knowing what to expect should help ease your worries. © AHA

This checklist will help you answer questions you may be facing before major surgery such as: How do I avoid financial surprises? Is there anything I can do to help speed up my recovery? How can I make my recovery as pain free as possible? What don't I know? © AHA

Watch these suggestions for supporting your loved one while he or she prepares for, and recovers from, heart surgery.

See what you can expect during your hospital recovery.

Learn strategies for rating and describing your pain level to members of your cardiac team, so they can treat it.

Understand how deep and controlled breathing exercises can help strengthen your lungs after surgery.

Learn how gradually increasing your level of activity can help your recovery.

When your surgery is done, you may be surprised at how quickly we get you up and moving. Why do we do this? Because it helps speed your recovery. Let's take a moment to learn about the benefits.

Understand the range of emotions commonly experienced after heart surgery.

Learn the common instructions included in your discharge plan.

You've had heart surgery, and it's time for you to leave the hospital. Let's learn about the process, and what you can expect.

In a hospital, ICU stands for Intensive Care Unit. CCU stands for Coronary Care Unit. These are places with special equipment and highly trained nurses and doctors. This is where patients go after open-heart surgery or a heart attack. You're watched around the clock. The care you get here will help you recover safely and quickly. You may stay for several days, depending on the type of heart surgery and the time you need to recover. Then you may go to a regular hospital room. © AHA

Learn how to safely care and monitor your surgical incisions.

Watch this video to learn about the common medications you may take after heart surgery, and strategies for taking them as prescribed.

Know the signs and symptoms that require a call to your healthcare team after heart surgery, and when to call 911.

Learn how you can expect to be feeling three to six weeks after heart surgery and how cardiac rehabilitation can help.

Learn how you and your loved ones can cope with the emotions commonly experienced after heart surgery.

Learn what heart-healthy lifestyle changes you should make to help reduce health problems in the future.

This American Heart Association video features helpful tips from others who have successfully recovered from heart surgery, including how to maximize your recovery at home.

This survival skills checklist is designed to help you through the days between discharge from the hospital and your follow up visit with your doctor. © AHA

Immediately after your surgery, you'll be taken to an intensive care unit (ICU) or recovery room. A nurse will be with you at all times, and special equipment will be used to monitor your progress. © AHA

In this video, Kirk undergoes bypass surgery after learning he has widespread blockages in his coronary arteries.

In this video learn how Curtis prepared for life before and after heart transplant.

Watch this video to learn about what happens during Heart Valve Repair or Replacement.

Watch this video to learn about what happens during a minimally invasive heart valve repair or replacement.

Watch this video to learn about treatment options for coarctation of the aorta.

Watch this video to learn about what to expect during an Atrial Septal Defect Closure procedure.

This surgery is one way to treat blocked areas in the arteries of the heart. See how the surgery is done, and what to expect before and after.

Coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) is a procedure in which health care professionals take blood vessels from another part of the body to create new places for oxygen-rich blood to flow around, or "bypass," blocked or narrowed coronary arteries to the heart muscle. © AHA

This treats a blocked coronary artery in your heart. That's one of the arteries that supplies blood to your heart's tissue. With a bypass, blood will flow around the blockage so it can nourish this tissue.

Heart valve surgery is done to replace or repair heart valves that aren't working correctly. © AHA

This surgery fixes a hole called an "ASD." It's in the wall between the heart's two upper chambers. These chambers are called the "atria." The hole lets blood without oxygen mix with blood that has oxygen in it. This decreases the amount of oxygen pumped out to the body. We usually close an ASD early in childhood to avoid health problems later on.

This is a procedure to correct a narrowed aorta. That's the main vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body. In many cases, this surgery is done soon after a baby's birth.

This procedure fixes a hole called an "ASD." It's in the wall between the heart's two upper chambers. These chambers are called the "atria." The hole lets blood without oxygen mix with blood that has oxygen in it. This decreases the amount of oxygen pumped out to the body. We usually close an ASD early in childhood to avoid health problems later on.