The surgeon can use small incisions, radio waves, freezing, or microwave or ultrasound energy to create scar tissue. The scar tissue, which does not conduct electrical activity, blocks the abnormal electrical signals causing the arrhythmia.
The scar tissue directs electric signals through a controlled path, or maze, to the lower heart chambers ventricles. The maze procedure can be done in different ways. It may be done through small cuts in the chest. Or it may be done during open-heart surgery. The maze procedure may be done if a person is having another heart surgery, such as coronary artery bypass and valve repair or replacement.
Recovery for a maze procedure depends on how your surgery was done. For example, recovery will likely be longer for an open-heart procedure than for a less invasive procedure. You may have to stay in the hospital for about 7 to 10 days. Most people spend the first 2 or 3 days after surgery in an intensive care unit ICU where they can be closely watched. You will be encouraged to walk within 1 to 2 days of your surgery. Discomfort in the chest, ribs, and shoulders is common within the first several days following surgery.
Your doctor will order pain medicines to help control this discomfort. Medicines called diuretics are used to control fluid buildup right after surgery. Your doctor may have you take a diuretic at home for several weeks following surgery.
You may need to take a medicine called a blood thinner that prevents blood clots, after the procedure. But this is usually determined on a case-by-case basis. Recovery is typically complete within 6 to 8 weeks following surgery.
Some people have discomfort at the chest incision for several months after surgery. You will be able to get back to your normal activities within 3 months. You may feel more tired than usual, but most people are back to normal within 6 months.
It is used to control the irregular heartbeat and restore the normal rhythm of the heart. Your doctor may recommend the maze procedure if at least one of the following descriptions is true about you: footnote 1 , footnote 2. The maze procedure has good long-term results for treating atrial fibrillation. Give you anesthesia so that you sleep deeply and experience no pain during the operation.
Make an incision cut down the middle of your chest and separate your breastbone. Connect you to a heart-lung machine cardiopulmonary bypass , which will do the work of your heart and lungs during the procedure. Use cryoablation to make scar lines in the left and right atria. The surgeon may also close the left atrial appendage.
Remove you from the heart-lung machine, wire your breastbone back together, and close the incision with stitches or staples. What are the risks from a Maze procedure? Complications can occur after any type of surgery, and they are more likely in people who: Are older Are very overweight Have multiple medical conditions Smoke Your surgeon will talk to you about your risks and how to reduce them. Complications after the maze procedure are rare but may include: Bleeding Blood clots, which might lead to a stroke or heart attack The need for a permanent pacemaker Complications from anesthesia Failure to control the abnormal rhythms Infection Kidney failure Other abnormal heart rhythms What happens after Maze surgery?
Your health care team will: Monitor your heart rate and other vital signs through machines at your bedside Teach you breathing exercises to help remove fluids that can collect in the lungs during surgery Give you only liquids to drink at first, then slowly add food you can eat Encourage you to sit in a chair and walk with help during the first day or two Monitor your pain and give you medications and strategies to manage it Remove the tubes as you recover Most people stay in the hospital for a few days after a maze procedure.
After you leave the hospital: Avoid lifting anything heavy for several weeks. Follow all recovery instructions, including regarding medications, exercise, diet, wound care and driving. Have someone help at home. See the surgeon in seven to 10 days for a follow-up appointment and for removal of stitches or staples. You will slowly recover your strength over several weeks.
What is the outlook after AFib surgery? Most patients are admitted to the hospital the day before surgery or, in some cases, on the morning of surgery. Small metal disks called electrodes will be attached to your chest. You will receive a local anesthetic to numb the area where a plastic tube called a line will be inserted in an artery in your wrist.
An intravenous IV line will be inserted in your vein. The IV line will give you the anesthesia during the operation. You will be given something to help you relax a mild tranquilizer before you are taken into the operating room. After you are completely asleep, a tube will be inserted down your windpipe and connected to a machine called a respirator, which will take over your breathing. Another tube will be inserted through your nose and down your throat, into your stomach.
This tube will stop liquid and air from collecting in your stomach, so you will not feel sick and bloated when you wake up. A thin tube called a catheter will be inserted into your bladder to collect any urine produced during the operation.
A heart-lung machine is used for Maze surgery. A perfusion technologist or blood-flow specialist operates the machine. Before you are hooked up to this machine, a blood-thinning medicine called an anticoagulant will be given to prevent your blood from clotting.
The surgical team is led by the cardiovascular surgeon and includes other assisting surgeons, an anesthesiologist, and surgical nurses. To make the incisions, surgeons can use a sharp surgical knife called a scalpel, a cryoablation device that destroys tissue by freezing it, or a radiofrequency device that destroys tissue using radiofrequency energy like microwave heat. Some surgeons use a combination of techniques to make the incisions. Maze surgery works because after the heart heals, scar tissue forms.
Scar tissue cannot carry conduct electrical impulses, so the scar tissue that forms around the incisions keeps the electrical impulses on course.
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