New heart bypass operation 'the future' for patients
RWTHeart bypass patients in Wolverhampton are set to be offered a new and less invasive treatment that also improves recovery time, NHS bosses say.
New Cross Hospital said it was one of the only hospitals in the country to perform the minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) procedure.
The operation leaves a much smaller scar and avoids cutting through the breastbone and its associated complications.
Four patients have so far been treated with the service, which is about to be offered more widely.
The procedure can be performed for a single heart artery vessel or as a hybrid for multiple narrowed heart arteries, the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said.
By avoiding cutting the breastbone, a patient has a faster recovery time, less pain and "a better aesthetic look", a spokesperson added.
Giuseppe Rescigno, consultant cardiac surgeon, said: "This is being done occasionally in Stoke, but regionally, no other cardiac centre in the West Midlands [Birmingham or Coventry] does this."
Consultant anaesthetist Mahmoud Abdelaziz, said: "This is a real collaboration with the cardiologist – where we perform the surgery on the most important artery for long-term outcomes and survival – consultant cardiothoracic surgeons and interventional cardiology consultants."
He said the procedure was definitely "the future" for patients.
Patient Paul Hughes, 58, a builder from Cornwall, had the procedure and returned to his normal life in a couple of weeks, the trust said.
"It went really well," he said.
"I was a bit sore, but I had the stitches out after eight days, and Mr Rescigno did a lovely job – he even saved my tattoo.
"The wound is as clean as a whistle, and he talked me through everything thoroughly and answered everything I had to ask."
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