After having a heart bypass surgery, patients will notice changes like improved heart function. Chest pain and breathlessness will be gone after the surgery. Cardiac rehabilitation is one of the important things after the surgery. It also prevents various health complications such as heart attack and cardiac failure. A patient will live more than 18 years if there are no complications. This blog will help you to know the life span after heart bypass surgery, including risk, complications, benefits, recovery, and tips to keep the heart healthy.
What is Heart Bypass Surgery?
Heart bypass surgery is a surgical procedure to improve the blood flow inside the heart. Healthy arteries (grafts) are harvested from other parts of the patient’s body, such as legs, chest and arms, to implant them into the heart muscle. By having this surgery, the risk of getting a heart attack and blocked arteries would be reduced. Increased energy levels due to new arteries which supply the oxygen better than before the surgery.
Life Span After Heart Bypass Surgery
After heart bypass surgery, patients have to undergo cardiac rehabilitation. He has followed some healthy habits to improve his health, such as dieting, exercise, stress management, no smoking and no drinking. Patients will go to the intensive care unit immediately after the surgery. Most patients live for 10 to 20 years after getting the heart bypass surgery. The survival rate for 5 years is 90% and the survival rate for 10 years is 74% to 76%. Survival rates can differ for individuals due to differences in health, medication, complications and many other components.
In the Hospital
In the hospital, vitals and health will be closely observed in the intensive care unit (ICU) post-surgery. It will reduce the chances of getting any other complication, which can be very dangerous for the patient. In ICU, they monitor electrocardiogram tracing, blood pressure, other pressure readings, breathing rate, and oxygen level.
At Home
It is important to keep the surgical area clean and dry after discharge from the hospital. A healthcare expert will provide some specific instructions, which are in the following:
- Bath: Time of bathing will be decided by the doctors before discharge.
- Activity Restriction: Patient can not perform any activity, including exercise and body movement, which can create complications in the initial days post-surgery.
- Wound Cleaning: Cleaning of the incision is very important to reduce the risk of getting any infection and bacteria.
- Breathing Exercises: Healthcare providers decide when patients should start doing the breathing exercises after reviewing the recovery process. They will remove the stitches or surgical staples during a follow-up office visit. If they were not removed before leaving the hospital.
- Medication & Diet: Healthcare experts will provide the medication and diet chart according to health, and it will change throughout the recovery process.
- Travelling: Patients will be restricted from travelling and driving due to the surgery. It can cause complications if a patient is travelling.
How Can I Keep My Heart Healthy?
- Cardiac Rehabilitation: Proper rehabilitation sessions will help to recover faster from surgery and disease.
- Cholesterol Levels: Cholesterol levels should be maintained, as they maintain hormone levels and help build or recover the cells.
- Medications: Medications are one of the crucial things when we talk about recovery and health. By taking the prescribed medication regularly, patients will achieve the best possible outcome.
- Exercise: Exercises provided by the healthcare expert will be performed according to the plan and must not be missed to be healthy.
- Smoking: Smoking damages the blood vessels. So patients should not smoke to be healthy after the surgery.
- Medical Follow-Up: Medical follow-up is a must to track the recovery process, and it also makes changes according to the health.
Risk and Complication
There are some risks and complications after getting the heart bypass surgery in the following bullets:
- Infection: Infection can affect the patient due to invasive procedures of the heart. Infection can be treated with antibiotics.
- Bleeding: Immense bleeding due to incision might need further surgical treatment and could to blood transfusion treatment.
- Heart Rhythm: Arrhythmia is one of the risks after getting a heart bypass surgery. It can be back to normal after several days.
- Kidney Problems: Kidney functioning can be disturbed after getting heart bypass surgery. It will go back to normal after several days.
- Heart Attack: Heart attack during or just after the operation could happen. In moments like this, patients need to get emergency treatment.
Benefits of Heart Bypass Surgery
There are various benefits of getting heart bypass surgery in the following manner:
- Blood Flow: Blood flow and oxygen flow in the body to the heart will be maintained after getting the heart bypass surgery. It also enhances the heart functioning and reduces the strain on the heart.
- Relief from Symptoms: Patients will notice reduced or even no symptoms of artery blockage, angina, chest pain and others.
- Lower Risk of Heart Attack: Lowers the risk of getting the heart attack due to increased blood and oxygen flow after the surgery.
- Quality of Life: After getting the heart bypass surgery, people are able to do activities which they are restricted to do before the surgery. And with that, their overall healthcare will be improved after the procedure.
- Life Expectancy: After the surgery, survival rates over 10 years is very impressive and life expectancy is higher.
Recovery
The recovery process usually takes 3 to 6 months according to individual health and it can also take more than 6 months if the recovery shows some complications. The following points shows the basic overview on the recovery process:
- Hospital Stay: Usually, after the surgery, the patient will go through the ICU and they will monitor the vitals very closely. Patients should be encouraged about walking. It can take 1 to 7 days in the hospital after the surgery.
- Early Recovery at Home: In this period of time, patients should increase walking and avoid lifting weights. Proper cleaning is required around the surgical area. Medication and hydration is a must in recovery. This period is usually 1 to 8 weeks, depending upon the recovery progress.
- Full Recovery: A cardiac rehabilitation is being followed by the time and the patient is building strength by the time. Patients can return to their normal activities and can do driving, work and other after getting permission from their healthcare experts. This period usually takes 3 to 6 months and can be different for some individuals.
Conclusion
Heart bypass surgery will help you regain your lifestyle and activity levels with the help of the new blood vessels. It will increase the flow of blood and oxygen into the heart muscle. It helps regain your strength, muscles and endurance. With the good life span and life expectancy rate, heart bypass surgery is a great choice to fight back the blockage in the arteries. Chest pain, angina, and breathlessness are no longer an excuse for heart bypass surgery.