By Chris Conklin, VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System

One surgeon described it as the difference between driving a high-performance sports car and flying a fighter jet. This may be hard for the average person to understand with regard to heart surgery, but for the heart surgeons at VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System   (TVHS), minimally invasive heart valve repair and replacement procedures are creating quite the adrenaline rush. The surgeons at the TVHS Nashville campus have recently started performing these procedures in a collaborative effort with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Patient Benefits

Surgeons have seen remarkable results in patient recovery time. More important, physicians can add candidates to the list for this new procedure who weren’t physically able to withstand the stress of a more invasive procedure.

The traditional procedure, which required a large incision that placed added strain on the patient’s heart muscle, nearly inhibited surgeons from being able to perform a second procedure. With the minimally invasive procedure, however, surgeons are able to avoid existing scar tissue while inserting replacement valves.

Hospital Costs Reduced

In addition to health benefits, minimally invasive heart valve repair and replacement surgery brings financial advantages. Patients who have this surgery are able to return home quickly, which reduces costs from a lengthy hospital stay.

This is a win-win situation for surgeons, too, who are not only reducing heart surgery costs but also providing patients with a lower-risk operation. The greatest reward, however, is knowing they changed a veteran’s life for the better. With every minimally invasive heart procedure TVHS surgeons perform, they take another step in becoming the heart surgery leader in veterans’ health care.

For more information about minimally invasive heart valve surgery, talk to your physician.