Heart Surgery

Heart surgery is an operation to correct a heart problem when medicines and procedures (like stents) can't fix it. India has a well-developed cardiac surgery capacity with experienced surgeons, and outcomes at large centres compare well with international benchmarks.

Main types

• Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG or "bypass") — the commonest adult heart surgery; reroutes blood around blocked arteries.
• Valve repair or replacement — for leaky or narrowed heart valves (in India often from rheumatic heart disease).
• Congenital heart surgery — for children born with heart defects.
• Heart transplant — for end-stage heart failure; available in a limited number of Indian centres.
• Aortic aneurysm repair.

How it is done

• Open heart — chest opened through the breastbone, usually using a heart-lung bypass machine.
• Off-pump bypass — on a beating heart, no bypass machine.
• Minimally invasive — small cuts between the ribs; shorter recovery; for selected cases.
• Robotic — available in select centres for suitable cases.

Before and after

• Quit smoking at least 2 weeks before surgery — the single biggest thing you can do to reduce complications.
• Control blood sugar and blood pressure.
• After surgery: expect 1-2 days in ICU, 5-7 days in hospital for an uncomplicated bypass.
• Cardiac rehabilitation (supervised exercise, education, counselling) halves the chance of a future heart event. Ask about it before discharge.

Practical notes

Heart surgery costs vary widely across private and government hospitals. Government insurance and many state health schemes cover cardiac procedures for eligible patients — ask the hospital's billing desk about available cover.